Chapter 17: Time To Escape The Clutches Of A Name: Part 1

Title song: Escape by Thirty Seconds to Mars

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since my last update! You're getting two chapters this weekend! This one is mostly from Chanel's pov and chapter 18 is Bucky's pov. This is why I've added the dates and locations. A couple of new characters will be introduced into the story! Enjoy 😊

Warning: discussion of suicidal thoughts and attempts

Summary: Chanel, Bucky, Sam, and Lemar are going to meet Karli. In the midst of the chaos and injuries, the Dora Milaje come back to arrest Zemo but Chanel has other plans.

Title song: Escape by Thirty Seconds to Mars

Riga. November 4.

The sky was dark and ominous as the group headed toward Karli's chosen meeting place. The weather accurately reflected Chanel's mood as she shut down the side of her brain that was in pain, that was fretting over what Bucky had wanted to tell her, that just wanted this all to be over. She let the other side, the one she was more comfortable with, take over. Seeing Bucky and Sam in their suits made everything feel more serious. She was worried, for Sam's family, for Lemar and Zemo, who didn't have superhero suits or super-soldier serum, and for herself as she struggled to keep her vision clear.

She glanced in Lemar's direction; his face was stony and determined.

At least he has a gun, and I assume his suit offers some kind of protection.

She turned to Zemo, who was walking on her other side.

He knows how to fight. I should probably be more concerned with stopping him from killing everyone.

But better them than him.

"Chanel, do not give him a gun," Sam chided without even turning around.

"Do you have eyes in the back of your head?"

"No, I just know you, and Zemo can't be trusted. I still want to talk her down."

"Fine, so what's the plan?"

"Bucky and I are going to go talk to her. You three do a sweep of the perimeter and stay at the two main exits. Stay out of the way and let us know what you see."

Bucky looked over his shoulder to add his two cents. "Don't engage with anyone without us. If you have to, don't let them get their arms or hands wrapped around you. You can all hold your own in a fight but breaking their hold will be nearly impossible."

"We're here, be careful." Sam nodded at the group before heading into the building.

"I'll go left; you two go right." Lemar didn't wait for confirmation before turning and running around the left side of the building.

"You heard Battlestar, let's go, Zemo. Be careful, Buck. We'll be fine." Chanel nodded at Bucky before walking away.

Zemo started to follow but was held up when Bucky grabbed his arm.

"Don't let anything happen to her," Bucky whispered as he handed Zemo a gun.

"I promise."

They quickly parted ways as a loud crack of thunder shook the ground beneath their feet.

"It was a diversion! They're after Walker; he's at the displacement camp!" Sam yelled through the earpiece.

"Lemar heads up, they're coming your way!" Bucky shouted.

"I'm—" Lemar's reply was cut off.

"Shit, come on, we have to go help him!" Chanel ran around the building, each step making her head pound. "Lemar, are you there? Lemar?!"

"He's not here." Bucky paused at the door where Lemar was supposed to be stationed.

Chanel and Zemo skidded to a halt at the exit.

"What do you mean he's not here?" Chanel asked, out of breath.

Zemo bent over and picked up Lemar's discarded earpiece. "This isn't a good sign."

"Shit! We shouldn't have left him alone, goddammit."

"Guys, come on, we'll find Lemar with the others, I'm sure."

The group looked up as Sam flew overhead.

"Must be nice," Chanel muttered as she started to run behind Bucky and Zemo.

The displacement camp was dark and deadly quiet. As the group silently crept through the empty halls, they could only hear the raindrops on the roof.

"Are you sure this isn't just another trap?" Chanel whispered.

"Positive. Sharon told me they were here," Sam said.

"Oh, great," Chanel scoffed. "Definitely a trap then."

Two Flag Smashers busted through a door a few feet ahead of the group. They paused, clearly not having expected to see two Avengers and company waiting for them, before they took off toward the courtyard.

"Chanel, go see where they came from; they could have Lemar back there! The rest of you follow me!" Sam was already out of sight as he gave the last order, and everyone did as they were told.

Chanel found Lemar in a large bathroom. He was tied up and barely conscious; a small trickle of blood ran down his face.

Lemar groaned as she sliced the zip ties on his wrists and ankles and helped him sit up.

"Careful, are you okay?"

"They rushed me. Knocked me out. Where are we?"

"The displacement camp. They used you to draw Walker here."

"What? Why?"

"I assume they want to kill him. So, we gotta get you out of here."

"Where is everyone else?"

Chanel helped Lemar to his feet. "They went after the Flag Smashers."

"Okay, then that's where we have to go."

"Lemar, you just got knocked out; I'm taking you back to Zemo's, maybe to a doctor." Chanel tried to tend to his head wound, but he pushed her hand away.

"Please, you just got knocked out yesterday, and you're here! I'm not leaving him; he's my friend."

Chanel took a deep breath. "Okay fine. Can you walk?"

Lemar steadied himself on his feet and went to the sink to splash water on his face. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good."

"Hold on, here."

Chanel handed him a small canister that looked like pepper spray.

"What's this?"

"I'm a spy, and I have gear you can use. I know we're not supposed to kill them or whatever, but this stuff should be enough to subdue them and keep yourself alive."

Chanel handed him several more weapons and slipped two bracelets on her wrists.

"This is all I have left; I gave the rest to Zemo, so please just try not to die."

"You too."

The storm had gotten worse; the rain was no longer a light patter but an aggressive downpour as the wind shook the windows violently. Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the hall briefly as Chanel and Lemar made their way to the courtyard. They paused, just barely underneath the roof that protected them from the onslaught of rain. "They can't fight inside?" Chanel mumbled as she quickly braided her hair and pulled her hood up.

Bucky, Sam, and Zemo were all holding their own against the Flag Smashers. Lemar spotted John and ran in his direction.

"Lemar! Are you okay?" Walker yelled over the thunder.

"Yeah, man, I'm good. This was a trap; we have to get out of here."

A Flag Smasher threw a punch in his direction, and Lemar dodged it and then fired the canister Chanel had given him. A puff of purple smoke exploded in the Flag Smasher's face, and he collapsed to the floor.

"Holy shit. Where'd you get that?"

"Chanel. Damn," another Flag Smasher approached from behind John, and Lemar fired the weapon again, sending the Flag Smasher to the ground, "this stuff is the tits."

Chanel couldn't decide which direction to go in. Sam and Zemo probably needed her help more than Bucky, but that's where her feet wanted to take her. She watched Sam glide through the air and kick a Flag Smasher in the chest, and then she watched Bucky catch a knife in midair.

Okay, Zemo it is.

She turned in his direction and watched him take down three Flag Smashers in a row with the electric baton she had given him.

Okay, maybe I'll just sit back and watch then.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a rapidly approaching figure, a flash of red. She ducked just in time to miss the blow aimed at her head. She threw a punch at Karli's stomach, but Karli caught her wrist and squeezed tightly.

Chanel winced, trying to get out of her hold. She kept reminding herself to stay calm. You are not going to kill anyone.

"Karli. Come on, let's just talk about this. Threatening children is a new low."

Karli snarled and forced Chanel backward into a pillar. "I already told Sam I wasn't going to do anything to his family. That's not who I am."

"No?"

Karli's face twitched in anger. "I'm not like you. I don't kill people for fun."

Chanel faltered, her face dropped. "You don't know anything about me."

Karli smirked, knowing she was hitting a nerve. "Oh, I know all about you. Your boyfriend made sure of that. Maybe I'll make an exception for you. Stephan killed several of my friends. I think I owe him the same."

Karli grabbed Chanel's throat and slammed her head into the pillar with enough force to make the pillar crack.

Chanel gasped as the pain shot through her body and her head wound began bleeding again. Blindly, she fumbled with the bracelets on her wrists until they were glowing yellow. She brought her wrists to Karli's neck and jolted electricity through her body. Karli jumped back and let Chanel fall to the floor.

Chanel scrambled to the other side of the pillar, but Karli was back on her feet quickly. They were out of sight of everyone else; Chanel's scream as Karli pushed her back down to the ground was drowned out by the thunder. Chanel did her best to fight Karli off without hurting her, but when Karli kicked her in the chest and knocked the wind out of her lungs, Chanel was at the end of her rope.

"Okay, bitch, I'm done playing with you." Chanel stood back up and pulled her throwing knives out of her thigh holster.

Before Karli registered what they were, one had landed in her shoulder. Karli looked down at it and then looked up to move on Chanel, but the constant stream of knives being thrown in her direction slowed her down significantly. She stumbled backward and back into the rain. Karli narrowly dodged one knife that ended up whizzing past Walker's ear. Just barely missing him.

"What's with all the knives?!" He yelled to no one.

Lemar looked for the source of the knife and saw Karli moving quickly toward Chanel. Now that she was out of throwing knives, Chanel pulled her dagger out of her holster and lunged at Karli. Now in the relentless downpour, she didn't notice the Flag Smasher sneaking up behind her. He attacked Chanel from behind, wrapping his arms around her in an unbreakable hold. Chanel writhed and shouted in frustration, trying to escape.

Bucky was the only one that could hear her over the storm. He stopped in his tracks, searching for her in the rain. He was breathing heavily, the raindrops pouring down his face as he moved his wet hair out of his eyes. He finally spotted her on the other side of the large courtyard, struggling in the arms of a Flag Smasher as Karli approached her. He took off in her direction, but he was too late.

As Karli slowly approached Chanel with a wicked smile on her face, she pulled out her own knife, and Chanel fought harder. Panic was overriding her brain, and her muscle memory snapped to action. Before she could register what she was doing, before she noticed Bucky pulling Karli away, before she heard him yell her name telling her to stop, she had freed one arm, and her dagger was buried in the Flag Smasher's throat, and his strong arms released their hold on her. She took in a deep breath and ripped the knife across his throat as she pulled it out. Karli let out a primal scream as she watched her friend drop to the floor, dead. Chanel's eyes went wide as she realized what she had done; Bucky was yelling at her but couldn't process it. All she could hear was her own pounding heartbeat.

"What did you do? What did you do?" He repeated as he quickly checked her for injuries and then fruitlessly checked for a pulse on the corpse at her feet.

Chanel was frozen in place, her hands shaking so much her dagger fell to the ground until an indescribable pain shot through her face when Karli's fist made contact. Chanel looked up from the floor, still unable to move. Karli had her dagger, taunting her with it. Bucky put his hand up, attempting to stop Karli from coming closer.

"Don't do this, Karli. It was an accident; she didn't mean to—" Bucky's voice was cut off as Karli kicked him in the face.

Chanel still couldn't move, but she could see Lemar running toward them from behind Karli, and panic quickly jolted her back to reality. She tried to get up, to stop him, but she couldn't move fast enough. He was too close, he was going to attack Karli, and Chanel couldn't protect him. He was almost on Karli now, and Chanel could see that Karli knew; that she was about to attack.

"Lemar, stop!" Chanel screamed.

Karli spun around and kicked Lemar as hard as she could. His body slammed into a column across the room with a loud crack.

"Lemar!" Chanel pushed herself to her feet, pushing Bucky away as he tried to hold her back, and ran in Lemar's direction.

The room fell silent as Walker looked between Lemar and the rest of the Flag Smashers that were still standing. Time stopped. Everyone was frozen in place, afraid to breathe. The rain slowed down, and everyone could see each other clearly for the first time since the fighting had begun. Walker was breathing heavily, his large frame already shaking with anger.

"Run," Karli whispered.

She dropped Chanel's knife and took off out the door.

"They killed him! They—" Walker was quickly losing his mind and mumbled incoherently before taking off after the Flag Smashers.

Bucky and Sam hesitated, not sure what to do.

"Is he—?" Bucky dropped to his knees next to Chanel.

"I can feel a pulse; we need to get him to a hospital."

Bucky noticed Chanel's hands shaking uncontrollably as she tried to remove the outer layers of Lemar's gear.

"Hey, it's okay; he's going to be okay."

Chanel looked up at him, and the tears started falling. "I can't—I can't lose anyone else, Bucky. We have to get him out of here."

Sam placed his hand on her shoulder. "I called an ambulance; you and Zemo stay here with him. Buck, we have to go after Walker before he does something stupid. He thinks Lemar is dead."

Bucky nodded and squeezed Chanel's hand; Chanel didn't let him go.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—they were too strong. I'm sorry, Bucky."

"Shh, Chanel, we'll figure it out later. I have to go help Sam before anyone else gets hurt."

Bucky ran after Sam, and Chanel stared after him, turning in on herself more and more with each second that passed.

Bucky hadn't meant anything by his words; he was focused on the mission. But Chanel interpreted it as a dismissal, as him being disappointed and upset with her. Because in her mind, that's what he should be feeling.

Zemo offered Chanel his hand, and he helped her to her feet. He grabbed the hem of her black shirt and ripped it.

"What the fuck did you do that for?"

"You're both bleeding pretty bad; here, hold this on your head." Zemo handed her half of the shirt and used the other half on the back of Lemar's head.

"You couldn't use your own shirt?" Chanel said as she sat back down.

"It's a bit more difficult to rip through cashmere."

The sound of the approaching sirens and another sound, a low humming, filled the quiet room.

"I believe this is where we part ways, draga."

Chanel looked up at him, her vision still slightly blurry. "What are you talking about?"

"If I'm not mistaken, that sound is a Wakandan aircraft."

Chanel bolted to her feet, making her head spin. Zemo caught her before she fell.

"It's time. We can't avoid this. I'm sorry, draga."

Chanel could hear the genuine regret in his voice.

He did feel regret. Regret that this was what his life had come to. Would it have even made a difference if he hadn't sought revenge? Or was he always destined to be unhappy, alone?

"They can't. We—we're not done. And I need you."

The paramedics rushed into the room, and Zemo turned his attention to them, filling them in on what happened to Lemar and the various Flag Smashers laying around the room.

Chanel squeezed Lemar's hand before they wheeled him out to the ambulance.

"Zemo, if we go now, we can get away. They clearly got distracted or don't know where we are. I can find somewhere to go, just please, please don't leave me."

Zemo's arguments deflated. When he had been in prison, he had longed for nothing as he waited to be reunited with his family. But now—now this woman before him, begging him to stay, had made him want things. He wanted intimacy, he wanted love, he wanted to live a life with some semblance of happiness. So, even though he knew it was a bad idea, a pointless attempt, he gave her his hand and let her lead him out of a back exit.

"I have somewhere we can go for now."

"Where?" Chanel held onto his hand tight as if he would be ripped away any second.

"We have to hurry and go back to the house first."

"This is your idea of somewhere to stay?" Chanel glared at Zemo as he descended the ladder that led from his bathroom floor to the sewers.

"Temporary."

"Okay, let me make a call. We better keep moving."

"Who are you calling?"

"A friend of a friend."

"And what about Bucky and Sam?" Zemo asked as he led her through the dark sewer.

Chanel clenched her jaw; Bucky's face after she had killed the Flag Smasher was an image she wanted to forget.

"We'll handle it later. There's no time."

Warsaw. November 5.

"We're close; pull over here." Chanel directed Zemo to park on a side street.

They had driven the eight hours to Warsaw without stopping.

Zemo left the keys in the car and followed Chanel down the sidewalk.

"It's this one," Chanel pointed to a building at the end of the street.

Zemo walked ahead of her, intending to open the door for her but paused. "Do we just go in or…?"

Chanel stumbled on the steps, her head was spinning, and she felt like she might be sick.

Zemo knocked frantically three times and waited for a response. Suddenly the door swung open, and Zemo was pulled in by his collar.

"Shit, don't hurt him!" Chanel snapped her head up and stumbled up the rest of the stairs. "It's me; it's Chanel!"

Chanel pushed her way in and grabbed Yelena's arm. She had Zemo pinned against the wall with a knife to his throat.

"There's two of you?" Zemo asked incredulously.

"Who is he? You said you were coming alone." Yelena didn't look at Chanel as she spoke.

"I'm sorry, I lied. I'm trying to keep him alive, so please don't kill him."

Yelena let Zemo go and holstered her weapon; she looked them both over. "You look like shit."

Zemo caught his breath as he watched Yelena and Chanel walk into the kitchen as if nothing had just happened.

"Where's your first aid kit?" Chanel winced as she leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Bathroom, through there." Yelena directed her to the only bedroom in the safe house.

Yelena turned to Zemo after Chanel left.

"What's with the coat?" Yelena asked Zemo as she handed him a glass of vodka.

"What about it?"

"It's a bit...ostentatious...for someone on the run."

Zemo frowned and took a swig of the vodka.

"I like it, though. Ostentatious is good."

Chanel poked her head out of the bedroom. "Hey, can one of you come help me with this?"

"I got it. Make yourself comfortable." Yelena made her way to the bedroom.

Zemo stood alone in the kitchen for a moment, glancing around the small safe house, looking for clues to who they were dealing with. When a large tan and black dog trotted past him and followed Yelena into the bedroom, he let his guard down. He followed the dog into the bedroom and sat on the bed. As he flicked through the limited tv channels, Yelena stitched up Chanel's head wound in the bathroom.

"So, who is he? And who is trying to kill him?"

"I told you who he is—ouch, can you be more gentle? And who is trying to kill him varies from moment to moment."

"Don't be a baby."

Chanel glared at Yelena in the mirror.

Yelena just smiled and continued her work. "So, Natasha's best friend protecting a terrorist...I figured you were in the superhero business with the way she wouldn't shut up about you."

Chanel scoffed, "not even close. And Nat made you sound like a fucking saint."

Yelena snorted. "So, no friends to call? You must be desperate to call me."

"Yeah, well, Nat gave me your number for a reason—she said if I ever needed someone, I could trust you. And I definitely just pissed off my only two other friends by running away with their prisoner."

On cue, Chanel's phone rang, Bucky's name on the screen, for the hundredth time.

Yelena noticed the sadness on Chanel's face. "Are you not going to answer that?"

Chanel sighed, "no. I'll deal with it later. It's complicated."

"So much drama; how are you all still alive? Amateurs."

"Oh, you wanna talk about drama? What are you wearing? And who brings a dog to a safe house?" Chanel shooed away Yelena's dog, Fanny, from her leg.

Yelena stepped back, done with the stitches. "Good as new. And for your information, this is my favorite outfit." Yelena waved her hand over her yellow plaid matching skirt and jacket.

"I'm sure it is. Thank you."

"Draga, you'll want to see this," Zemo called from the bedroom.

"Draga?" Yelena mouthed in question.

Chanel moved past her and went into the bedroom. The nightly news was playing blurred footage of John Walker murdering a Flag Smasher in cold blood with the shield.

"Holy fuck. Is this real?" Chanel sank down onto the bed next to Zemo.

Zemo's lips were tight as he nodded his head.

Chanel fumbled for her phone. "I have to call Sam and Bucky, holy shit."

She hit redial on Bucky's number, and he answered immediately.

"Where are you?!" Bucky yelled.

"Are you okay?!" Chanel yelled at the same time.

Zemo and Chanel laid on the bed, both staring at the ceiling, lost in their own thoughts. Chanel's phone call with Bucky had not gone well; she ended up talking to Sam most of the call. She at least knew they were both okay, and while Karli had disappeared again, the good news was that they had gotten the shield back from Walker. Sam had let her know that Lemar would recover and was being flown to a hospital in DC overnight. The good news did little to lift her spirits. She had killed someone. She had tried so hard to be better, but as soon as things got tough, she reverted right back to the person she didn't want to be anymore. And Bucky—Bucky had seen it, and the look on his face haunted her. She was no better than Walker. No better than any of them. And now she was on the run with Zemo, making things so much worse.

What was I thinking?

"Are you awake?" Chanel asked.

"Yes," Zemo whispered.

"We have to go back. I'm sorry," Chanel's voice cracked with guilt. "I'm making everything worse, for you, for Bucky. We have to go back."

"I know, draga."

Zemo turned on his side to face her. "Can I ask for a favor?"

Chanel turned her head slightly. "You can ask."

Zemo smirked at her noncommittal answer. "I have one request. Before we go back to Riga, go with me to the Sokovian memorial, so I can see it at least once?"

Chanel turned on her side. "You want me to go with you?"

"There's nothing more I want," Zemo whispered.

Chanel nodded, "I can do that." She owed him at least that much.

Warsaw. November 7.

"So, are you going to tell me who this Bucky is, or are you just going to keep being weird?" Yelena asked as she looked over Chanel's shoulder.

Chanel had been staring at Bucky's number on her screen for the past 10 minutes. She wanted to call him, but she couldn't make herself do it.

Chanel flipped her phone over and pursed her lips. "Nosy."

Zemo made a noise in the backseat of Yelena's car. Yelena looked at him through the rearview mirror. "Spill.

"She's in love with him."

Chanel spun around in her seat, "how—how did you know?!"

"Everyone knows. Everyone except you and James."

Yelena turned her head slightly in Chanel's direction with a questioning but amused look on her face.

"It's a long story, okay. I don't want to get into it right now. Besides, it doesn't matter; I'm letting it go."

"God, you can't be serious," Zemo groaned.

"I'm very serious. Am I possibly in love with him? Yes. Am I going to tell him just to have him leave me once he finds out who I really am? Hell no."

Zemo started to argue, but Chanel cut him off. "I'm not doing it Helmut, he may think he loves me now, but you know what I've done. You didn't see the look on his face when I killed that Flag Smasher. I've got to let it go."

Yelena pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"Why are you stopping?"

Yelena put the car in park and turned in her seat to face Chanel. "Because I needed to look you in the eyes while I said this. You're weak, and Nat would never have put up with a friend that was this whiny."

"Excuse me? You don't even know me!"

"You've done bad things? Yeah, well, so have the rest of us, and we're not sitting around on our asses having pity parties. If Natasha was here, would she be happy with the way you've been treating yourself?"

Chanel shook her head, afraid to speak.

"You owe it to her to get your ass in gear and stop wasting your life. Pain makes you stronger."

"God, you really were sisters," Chanel grumbled.

Yelena rolled her eyes. "Plus, I've seen the pictures on your phone—"

Chanel's mouth dropped open, "what?! How?"

"Look who you're talking to. Helmut and I just got bored last night. In his defense, he tried to stop me."

Chanel turned to Zemo. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I only looked at one!" Zemo blushed.

"My point is, he's super hot. If you don't snatch him up, someone else will."

"I do think she has a few good points, draga." Zemo placed his hand on Chanel's shoulder. "You don't owe him anything. You can tell him everything someday when you're ready. All you need to focus on now is that you love him, right?"

Chanel looked at Yelena and then at Zemo. They were staring at her intently, waiting on her answer. This was it, the moment that everything would become real. If she said it out loud, she couldn't take it back.

"I do; I love him so goddamn much," Chanel held her breath.

Yelena laughed and clapped her hands giddily. "Look at you, all grown up and in love."

Yelena started the car again and headed to the airstrip where Ozenik was waiting with Zemo's jet.

Zemo squeezed Chanel's shoulder. "Everything is going to be fine."

Chanel couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. "Shit, should I call him now?"

Yelena took the phone out of her hand. "God no! You're going to tell him you love him over the phone?!"

"She's right. Not very classy."

"You're right. He is a romantic." Chanel chuckled to herself as she remembered Bucky's impromptu date. "After the first time we made out, he put together a very elaborate date to apologize. He bought me my favorite flowers, we danced, he was the first person that got me to talk about Nat without crying."

"And you're just now realizing you're in love with him?" Zemo asked incredulously.

"I've been told I can be stubborn."

"An understatement," Yelena laughed.

"That's what I'll do. When we get back, I'll decorate and cook, and—what do you buy guys in place of flowers?"

"A blow job?"

"Hilarious, Yelena."

Chanel turned to Zemo, who shrugged. "Normally, I would say wine or liquor, but that doesn't really do much for James."

"Okay, putting a pin in that. But anyway, a surprise date. And then I'll tell him how I feel and try not to puke."

"Sounds perfect, draga. We're here."

Chanel and Zemo waved goodbye to Yelena as they boarded the jet destined for Sokovia—at least what was left of it.

Chanel pulled her coat tighter around her body to block the chill from the wind. Zemo seemed unfazed as he stood in front of the Sokovia memorial. They had been standing there in silence for a while. Chanel watched him closely; he didn't cry, he didn't get angry; he didn't frown; he just stared.

"Helmut?" She reached out and stroked his arm. "Are you okay?"

Zemo glanced at her briefly. "You're cold, come." He led her to a bench, blocked from the worst of the wind by the trees but still in view of the memorial.

"It's a beautiful memorial."

Zemo hummed, lost in his own thoughts.

Chanel fell quiet again, content to just be there with him.

After some time, he turned to her. "I was excited when James came to break me out of prison. Do you know why?"

Chanel had several guesses but assumed none of them were correct. She shook her head.

Zemo kept eye contact with her, never faltering. "I knew there was a good possibility that at the end, when he was done with me, that I would be dead. I would be with my family again."

Chanel didn't know what to say, she grabbed his hand.

"But I quickly realized that I had miscalculated, misjudged. James is a better man than I gave him credit for."

Zemo trailed off, lost in his own thoughts and emotions again. "I'm sorry—I shouldn't have told you that."

Chanel turned his face toward hers. "You can tell me anything."

Zemo looked away from her, and she could tell he didn't think that she understood.

"I—I've tried before too."

Zemo looked up again, his brows furrowed.

"To reunite with the ones I love. I've tried. As recently as our arrival in Riga." Chanel took a steadying breath and locked eyes with him again. "You're not alone anymore, Helmut. I'm right here."

Zemo's control crumbled, and he let the tears he had been holding back fall. Chanel wrapped her arms around him and sat in silence while he cried.

"I have so much anger—still. So much hate."

Chanel smoothed his hair down. "Helmut, you don't have to hold onto that anymore. You can change. Let it go. Just let it go."

They stayed there on the bench until it was dark. Even then, Zemo only got up because Chanel couldn't keep her teeth from chattering.

He pulled her to her feet. "Thank you, Chanel."

Chanel nodded, and they made their way back to the jet; Zemo didn't look back.

Zemo brought Chanel a glass of champagne as the jet took off. "We'll be back in Riga by morning. Have you told James?"

Chanel sighed and picked up her phone; she typed a quick text and threw her phone down. "There, I did it."

"Good. So the Dora Milaje will no doubt be waiting for me as soon as we arrive." Zemo sat down his champagne and grabbed Chanel's hand. "I would like to say our goodbyes now."

Chanel nodded and sat up straight, squaring her shoulders as if she was preparing for something worse.

"I want to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For showing me that I still have a reason to live. And for being my friend."

Chanel smiled sadly, trying not to cry. "I'll write to you. I'll bribe someone to get you the letters. Or write in the personals of the newspaper. You get to read the newspaper, right?"

Zemo smiled and ran his thumb over her cheek. "I would like that very much. I want to know that you're happy. I want to know when you get married, when you have your first child."

"Okay, now you're talking crazy," Chanel laughed. "I'm going to miss you."

They stared at each other for a moment, the rest of what they wanted to say passing between them silently. Chanel's lip started to quiver, and Zemo pulled her into his arms.

"It's not the end, draga. You never know what cards I have up my sleeve."

Chanel laughed and pulled back, wiping her tears. "Your friend from Monaco?"

Zemo simply shrugged and handed her a fresh glass of champagne. "No tears tomorrow. It's a big day for you, and I want you to be nothing but happy."

"Oh god, don't remind me. I'm going to have a panic attack the more I think about it."

"It's going to be fine, don't get in your head. I can already see your confidence faltering."

"I'm just trying to convince myself that I deserve this. I'm still not sure that I do."

Chanel downed the second glass of champagne, trying to turn off her brain. She just wanted to spend the night focused on Zemo. Once their tears were dry, they focused on happier things. They talked about everything from their favorite albums (which led to a lot of drunk singing that surely drove Ozenik insane) to their challenging childhoods. Chanel fell asleep in his arms, and in the morning, she was surprised by the peace she felt with the situation. They would be friends forever. No one could take that away from her.