Bucky is surprised that it's Clint he has to haul backwards.
The assassin launches himself towards the new addition to the room, hands out for the snap only to be dragged back by Bucky just before he gets his hands around Zemo's neck.
He feels that desperate clawing feeling in his gut as he holds Clint's back to his chest, locking his flesh and metal arm around the assassin's chest.
"Let me go!" Clint shouts, fighting with every fiber of his strength, "Let ME GO, BARNES."
"No." Bucky's voice is hoarse and his arms lock tighter, his eyes glued to Zemo's smug face. "He wouldn't— stop STRUGGLING, Barton! STOP!" He's surprised by how strong the man he's holding back is. He almost almost feels winded, trying to keep the man from escaping his grasp.
The man in his arms goes still, panting and glaring at the man in front of them.
"At least some of you have kept your senses." Zemo comments, glaring at Clint.
"You have 30 seconds to explain why you're here before we let him go and I help him rip you to pieces." Natasha snarls.
"Guys." Bucky says sharply. "Stop."
They stare at him incredulously, and he glares at Zemo. "He wouldn't put himself into a room with us if he didn't have a plan. Someway to keep us in check. Right?"
Zemo smiles, undeterred by Bucky's assessment. He nods slowly, eyeing each of them before bringing his hands, which had been at ease behind his back, in front of him.
One holds what looks like a hand grip, and the other a small screen.
"Your attack dog has saved you once again," Zemo mentions, turning the screen to face them. Clint starts struggling in his arms again and it takes every ounce of his strength not to let him go. Because there, on the screen, is an unconscious Steve, brown hair and all, laying on a metal surface, hands and legs tied as an unknown set of hands holds a chainsaw at his neck. "If I had died, my friend here would have gotten the signal to remove your Captain's head from his body." The calm and unaffected way he says this churns in Bucky's gut and he has to lock his arms tighter around Clint to keep himself from tearing at the man. "Drowning him didn't work, I had hoped to put an end to him then, but unfortunately Beck had other plans. Installing a tracker. Such dishonesty."
"We didn't find him by the tracker." Tony spits out. "We followed you."
Genuine surprise flits across Zemo's face, but it's followed by an impressed expression. "Ah, I see. Well, I will not be making such a careless mistake again. Captain Rogers may not be able to die naturally. But I do believe he can die violently. Removing the head, legs, and arms from the torso and burying them at the bottom of several different oceans should do that trick, don't you agree?"
"I'm a super soldier too." Bucky hisses, "don't you want to kill me?"
Zemo smiles, "of course I do. Killing Captain Rogers in such a way would accomplish both of my goals, don't you think?"
He can hear his own heartbeat in his throat, and he notices that Clint truly goes still in his arms. "Don't listen to him." Clint snarls, glaring at Zemo, "Steve or no, you deserve to live."
"Steve or no." Zemo repeats. "I Iike your way of thinking." He turns to Tony. "I want you four to stand down, and lead me to Ross. We have some unfinished business."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
Zemo just smiles, "all in good time."
"And if we say no?"
Zemo holds up his other hand. "This is coded to my palm and fingerprints. It's like a grenade in the sense that letting it go would be very bad. But not bad for me. Bad for your Captain. Understand?" They do. "Barnes was very astute when he claimed I would not come into this room with you without a plan. Beck was more impulsive, and he paid the price for that, no?"
"Yeah, you shot him." Natasha growls.
"As you say."
Clint huffs and taps against Bucky's wrist, "let me go. I won't kill him. Yet."
Bucky does, releasing his hold and feeling particularly vulnerable without the distraction of holding Barton.
"Where is Steve?"
"He's here. On the raft."
"Where?"
"I will tell you that when we accomplish my goal."
"Your goal has always been to get rid of super soldiers, why would we believe you're going to let us go if we accomplish your goal?"
Zemo's face is dark as he stares at Barnes. "Because there is someone higher up on my priority kill list. And his name is General Ross. You get me to him, and I let you have your Captain back. If need be, we will meet again after that."
Every alarm bell in Bucky's head is going off, but with Steve somewhere locked in this hellhole of a prison, he doesn't see another option.
"Lead on." Tony snaps.
Zemo glances at Tony. "Oh, I thought you'd know where to go?"
Tony narrows his eyes, and something clicks. "I do. Let's go."
Zemo walks behind them, and he can tell that each one of them is mentally kicking themselves for letting Steve out of their sight.
—
They approach a door, 2913 and Tony points to it. "I can't be sure, but something shady as hell is happening in this room."
Zemo nods and motions for Natasha to open it. Her jaw is tight as she steps forward, turning the handle and pushing the door open. They step through.
—-
What greets them is a large cavernous room. Only the front half lit, the back half in shadows. Machinery and whirring mechanics greet them and they walk further into the room, avoiding wires and parts.
When they turn a corner, facing into the middle of the room, they freeze.
"It's about time." General Ross says, staring at them with an eyebrow raised. He stands next to something hulking, covered in a large cloth disguising what it is, "What took you guys so long?"
—
There's an eerie sense of dread as Zemo and Ross glare at each other. Something akin to anger.
More than anger.
Hate.
And something else.
Betrayal.
The thought makes Tony choke.
"Oh my—-" He grasps at his chest, trying to stifle the rising panic attack, "he knew." He reaches out, steadying himself on an old metal desk. "You— he— Ross." He gasps for air and he feels Natasha's hands under his arms, holding him up.
Ross rolls his eyes, "very eloquent there, Stark." He glares at Zemo and then at the rest of them.
"Anyone else?"
"Yeah," Clint snaps, "what the literal hell is going on here?" He stabs a finger at Zemo, "he's here. Did you know he was here?"
Ross crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back against something, "I knew he would come."
"And you just didn't think to warn us? He has Steve!" Natasha hisses, taking a threatening step forward.
Ross doesn't react except to narrow his eyes at Zemo. "You do not."
Zemo's grin is wicked, holding up the screen and showing the streaming video. "Oh, but I do."
Ross takes a deep sigh, and then looks up at the ceiling. Rubbing underneath his chin. "You know…" he starts, bringing his eyes back down, "I really thought you were all smarter than this."
No one responds, unsure of what he means. Ross stands, gripping the thick cloth and pulling. The thump of the cloth hitting the ground is masked by the intake of breath from Natasha and Clint as the chair is revealed.
"You know how much I had to work to get this thing moved here from Montana? What a nightmare. And to keep it under the radar? Logistical hell."
"Why—" Tony starts, his face still pale and drawn.
"Stark, sit down and shut up for once in your life, will ya?" He taps the metal restraints that have now held both Steve and Bucky down. "This thing, this contraption, was—is, going to be useful." He sits down in its seat, as if it wasn't the torturous device that it was. "You know how many lives we can change by changing their memories? Making them forget things? By easing the pain of those afflicted with great loss. Come on— Barnes, be honest, wouldn't you like to forget all those years of being held by Hydra? What was it… in and out of cryo— hmm, 15 years worth of being tortured, beaten and starved into submission? 15 years of horrible memories? All that blood on your hands? Imagine how much better you would get along in the compound if you and Stark here forgot that you murdered his parents?"
"We get along just fine." Tony seethes out, and even that small gesture, that small acceptance from Tony makes Bucky square his shoulders.
"Be that as it may, when Beck and Zemo captured you all, I remember thinking how… relieved I was. Maybe they'd get rid of the vigilante problem." His glare of annoyance tells them how little he thinks of them, "you all, running wild and Captain America most of all. Shoving his stupid moral compass down everyone's throats. Doing what he thought was right, consequences for how it affects others be damned. That man made an embarrassment of the United States Govern—"
"You mean he made an embarrassment of you." Natasha cuts in quickly.
Ross' eyes grow dark. "Steve Rogers is a menace to this world as he is. Hell, the government cleared him and Barnes just to keep him from causing more division, against my advice." His eyes cut to Zemo, amusement on them, "and when I sprung you and Beck from this prison all those months ago, I thought we had an agreement on how we would change that."
The admission cuts deep. Shattering around them like an ice block thrown to the floor.
Suddenly it's all three of them holding him back, Natasha's arms around his neck, covering his eyes, hanging on while Clint holds his torso, attempting to haul him back and Tony is at his front, pushing against his chest.
"Barnes, stop! Don't, he's baiting you!"
Ross laughs, a deep chuckle of amusement and he points to the corner, "yeah, Barnes. Smile, you're on camera. Imagine the footage of you killing a United States General, honestly it would almost be worth it to die to know how they would crucify you over that."
Bucky stops, they hadn't really been holding him back but he stops. Letting them push him backwards, further away from Ross.
"You let these maniacs loose?" Tony hisses, "do you have any idea of what they've done!"
"Yes." Ross states, annoyed, "I know every single thing they've done." He glances at Zemo, "thanks for taking care of Beck. Less of a mess for me."
It really settles on their shoulders. How much Ross has known, played along, goaded them.
"That was not for your benefit." Zemo says flatly, "he betrayed me, I killed him. Fair is fair."
"I think there's been enough betrayal going around. You don't have the grounds to act uppity."
"Oh?"
Ross glares at Bucky, holding him in his gaze. "I wanted Barnes as an attack dog. You told me that if I let you go, you would get him for me. And here we are. No attack dog."
"There should be no super solid—"
"Oh, cram it, Baron." Ross spits, "Shut up about your little tirade. You broke our deal and then you had the gall to threaten me."
"I still have the guts to threaten you. You won't make it out of here alive."
Ross smirks. "Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't speak too soon. I have my ways." His eyes lock on Bucky and suddenly the world is shattered as the first word in Russian is spoken over a speaker system.
Longing
He's clutching at his ears. Covering them. His teammates are shouting things at Ross and Zemo in turn but the volume goes louder. Blocking out any other sound.
Rusted
Bucky feels his axis tilt, but he tries desperately to cling on. He's been fighting these words, every day, every moment since he broke free of Hydra. He's sure they're gone, that their hold on him is weakened and cracked. He fingers grip at his temple as if by gripping that he can hold on and widen the cracks in what Hydra placed on him.
The words are still going, but he's focused on his breathing, focused on the way the fluorescents make everything look pale and bled of color, how the stubble of his chin feels against his palm.
Freight Car
The last word booms over the speakers and then falls silent. The room is deadly quiet and Bucky can only hear his heartbeat in his ears, but slowly, so slowly, his chest unwinds and he glances up. He straightens, pride and relief, and an overwhelming crush of disbelief that he is free.
"Those don't work on me anymore." He says, his voice raspy but firm.
Ross looks at him, his gaze steady, he nods, his eyes never leaving Bucky's face. "Man…" he says, genuinely disappointed, "that's too bad. But you know, Barnes, not everything's about you."
He tilts his head and his eyes flick around to each of the group, before pointing up at the ceiling, his chin tipped backward, "Soldier?" He says loudly and with a commanding tone.
No one speaks, no one breaths as footsteps approach from the shadows behind Ross.
Bucky feels his knees go weak as blank blue eyes on an impassive face on top of a massive frame appears behind Ross, moving to stand at his side.
But it's the next words out of Steve's lips that has his heart stopping.
"Ready to Comply."
—-
*OOF the big reveal of Ross' over arching plan… How are we feeling? I'd love to know your thouughhttsss