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CHAPTER 8.

The next stop was Symkaria. A small monarchy with plenty of political unrest. It's neighboring country Latvaria was a lawless place even the GRC didn't push to enter. But the refugees that had fled that country gathered mostly in Symkaria and were refusing to go back. They were some of the most outspoken when the GRC vote threatened to reset the borders.

Jenny was glad this was second on the list so they could get it out of the way. It was going to be a challenge.

It was so strange being on a plane bound for another country when the unthinkable had happened just yesterday. It almost seemed a whole year ago since she held President Tarkov's limp body, and not twenty four hours.

Everyone on board had been quiet. Bucky was parked in the front again, staring out the window. Max was kitty corner and didn't make too much eye contact. Juan and Russel were playing cards silently in the back. One country down, and they were already exhausted.

She rode with Juan and Russel to their hotel, the finest one in the capital. On their way, they'd seen the camps filled to the brim with displaced people from several different countries, and their own. Not for the first time, did she feel guilt creep in that she was staying in luxury, while they were in abject poverty.

But when they got there, she found the hotel not updated since the 1980's. The bones were dark wood with dated red carpet. It reflected the state of the entire nation.

"Hey, you ok?" asked Max, coming up to her in the lobby after their liaison checked them in. "I just want you to know I'm here for you. If you want to talk." He started twirling the ring again.

"Actually, I'd like that. Maybe later after a nap?"

"You got it." He gave her a wink and walked upstairs.

Bucky was nowhere to be found. He'd headed straight in after the cars had let them out.

Jenny started up the stairs but spied the bar and checked her watch. Maybe a cocktail would help calm her nerves and she could catch up on the sleep she'd missed the night before. It looked fairly empty, which would be nice to sit by herself for a while. She walked in, and a waiter sat her at the bar on the far side.

"Miss?" he asked.

"Sidecar please."

"We have no hard alcohol here miss."

"Oh. This is a bar though?"

He leaned forward. "Communist State," he whispered.

She hadn't thought the restrictions pertained to alcohol. "Oh. Of course. Cabernet?"

He nodded and placed a napkin on the bar.

Behind her, someone was speaking in a low hushed voice at a table in the corner.

She turned to see Bucky, talking into his phone away from the sparse patrons with her back to the restaurant. He hadn't seen her, but something he said caught her attention.

"Listen to me. The kill count wasn't high enough. Got it? Yesterday there were too many errors. We have to be in sync. Next time I need you to flank to either side… Use the guns I told you to. We have to completely devastate them so they never recover."

Jenny's stomach dropped. She put her hand over her mouth as he continued laying out a devastating tactical strategy. Silently she hopped off the stool. My god, he was planning something. Something horrible. She had to stop him somehow. She had to tell someone. She exited the bar and tucked herself into an old payphone booth and dialed Stuart on her cell phone. "Pick up, pick up." His phone went straight to voicemail. She groaned and waited for the beep.

"Stuart, call me back immediately. I need to talk to you."

She hung up and started to dial Max. Before she could hit the call button, She saw Bucky leave the bar and head straight out of the front hotel doors. She didn't think, didn't hesitate; just tucked her phone into her purse and followed after him onto the busy streets of Symkaria. The displacement had overpopulated the capital in monumental and very visible ways. She almost lost him. But then she caught sight and hurried to the light at the end of the street through the throng of people.

Up ahead, he checked his phone, and crossed the street to the left. He looked backward in her direction, and she ducked behind a particularly large man. When she checked around the man's shoulder, she saw Bucky on the other side of the boulevard,

Even though there were several fair haired girls on the street, she dug in her purse for her handkerchief and tied it around her head. She took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

The street curved upward, and she hurried up in her heels. She saw him turn left again, behind a building.

When she reached the spot he'd disappeared, she saw that across the road was the local police station. At the door, Bucky was walking inside past officers staring at him. An alley way next to the station was empty and she hurried to it, pulling out her phone. She could wait for him here and Stuart's phone call.

A metal hand closed over her mouth from behind and the phone was taken out of her hand. "Why are you following me?" said Bucky's voice in her ear.

She yelped and struggled against his grip. "Because I'm going to stop you. Whatever you have planned," she said through her fingers.

He spun her around his eyes wide with shock. "Jennifer! Why are you dressed like a spy from a bad B movie?"

Jenny gathered her courage and planted her feet. "You haven't changed. You have everyone fooled, but you don't fool me. Kill count? Guns? You're still the Winter Soldier."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I heard you. I heard you on the phone in the bar."

His gaping mouth closed finally and he put his fingers to his eyes. "Cass and AJ..."

"Who?"

"Cass and AJ. Sam Wilson, the new Cap? His nephews. I play an online war game with them. They don't listen to me, so our team always loses."

"I… I don't believe you. She pointed at you. On the sidewalk."

"Jennifer, I'm not that guy anymore."

"You're nothing more than a cold blooded assassin."

His eyes narrowed in pain and went to his most recent calls. He dialed the number and pushed speaker.

"Uncle Bucky, you called back! Cass is being a jerk… he plays Call of Duty with his friends at school, and they said your strategy is shitty…"

"I did not!" cried a distant voice.

"Language," said Bucky.

"Anyway," continued the one who must have been AJ, "he said that the gun that you said to use was…"

"Hey guys, sorry, misdial. Be good. Miss you and I'll see you soon."

"Ok! Bye Uncle Bucky!" said AJ. Bucky clicked "End" and tucked the phone back in his pocket crossing his arms.

The heat and mortification of her mistake burned on her face. She had no words, and "sorry" couldn't even make it up her throat.

"Look I get it. You don't trust me. I don't always trust myself. My understanding was that we'd be partners and I was ok with letting that go. But this is my assignment and I'm going to complete this mission whether you like it or not."

It was the most words she'd ever heard him say, and it looked like it was painful to get out.

"I…"

"I'm going back inside to talk to the police so they know what we faced in Estonia. Unless you have any objections."

Still she could say nothing.

He walked past her back to the front of the police station and went inside leaving her cold on the sidewalk.