Everyone was up by the time Steve arrived back at the village, including Bucky. He was working outside his hut, dressed in his traditional clothes, hanging up a line of fish he had just caught. Even if he had no sleep, it was possible for his fellow super soldier to appear well rested.
"Good morning," Bucky called out. A hook pulled at his thumb. The minor wound would heal within minutes. He cursed but didn't flinch as he pulled it out. Even though he had been taught the Wakandan way of net fishing, he still insisted on doing it this way. "Fish don't stand a chance against our hyper reactions. We should enter tournaments, incognito. Kind of unsporting, but we would clean up."
"Buck, was it you?" Steve needed to get right to the point. He had a lot on his mind. His priority was dealing with last night's fiasco, then he had to move on to Natasha's revelation.
"Was who me?" Bucky threaded a line through the fish, fastening it to the wire to let it hang by the others.
"Last night, in Vienna, someone took Zemo. It was an impossible shot."
"Couldn't have been me. Too much going on here." He waved a hand around his home. Steve took in all the completed projects around the hut.
"It's possible. You could have asked your neighbors to pitch in and get this done. Left before we did, taken T'Challa's jet. Been back here before us. He'd let you use it because you ask for so little."
"You think I'd I go to all that trouble? I'm so bored that I'd fly to Europe just to hunt down some bad guy?"
"Buck, was it you?"
"Does it matter? The guy is dead. The resistance wanted him dead. It's over. We were right to take him out first. Stark can get serious with the rest of his clean up."
"You can't do this! When we tell you to stay home…"
"Well, sometimes I get tired of it! Having things done to me, letting other people make my decisions. I should have gone on that mission alone, not involved any of you, freed you up to do something else, but did you even consider that option? I'm a damn good shot and I can be damn valuable to this team, and the one time, in months, I can contribute…" he was spitting out the words.
Steve knew things had been hard for Bucky but he couldn't let this pass. "Damn it Bucky, you were a soldier," he said, taking a deep breath allowing himself a minute to cool down. "I should say I'm sorry, but I'm not. I stand by my decision. It was dangerous. Something might have gone wrong. Don't do it again… at least until we get the all-clear from Tony that you're free to go."
"Yes, boss," Bucky said, his tone was sarcastic. He didn't appear to be least bit contrite.
"I suppose, if I were in your position, I'd do the same thing but it's over. Sam's got a few choice words he wants to share with you."
"He's welcome to. I'll tell him the same thing I told you." They said nothing for a moment, staring at each other until Bucky broke the moment by gathering up the remains of his early morning fishing expedition.
"Why Zemo?" Steve asked, following Bucky back into the hut. "You said he was a behind-the-scenes guy. Why you? Anyone could have done the job. What did he ever do to you?"
Bucky laid his lines and traps on one of his side tables, taking his time, stretching out the lines so everything was in order.
"I don't know. He just needed to… go," he said, turning to face Steve. His eyes started past him, unfocused.
"What do you mean you don't know? Damn it, is this some leftover programming Shuri missed? Damn it. What set it off?" Steve ran his hands through his hair, the anger levels that had just come back to normal were rising again.
"No. Nothing like that. My head's clear. Zemo, he caused a lot of suffering. Tore things apart. He hurt me, and you. And Tony. It was wrong."
"Tony. You called him Tony," Steve sat down on one of the homemade wooden stools, seeing nothing
"Steve, are you ok? What's wrong?" Bucky's voice broke through the haze. Steve turned to face him. His eyes had returned to normal.
"Oh Buck," he said, getting up and holding his friend's face in his hands. "Bucky, that was our Zemo. How could you have known?"
"I remember it. It happened. You were there…" he took a step back, taking in his environment as if he were seeing it for the first time. Steve half expected him to ask ' Where am I? '
"That's weird. It's like I had someone else's memories in my head for a minute, the way it was after you first found me, I mean after he first found me. It was like seeing someone else's life. All I knew was Zemo had to pay…" Bucky said.
Steve's said nothing, wrapping his arms around him. After a moment's hesitation, Bucky's arms went around his waist, returning the embrace. "Oh Buck," Steve whispered. His hands stroked his hair. Bucky pulled back, studying his face.
"What? What's wrong? Look, I messed up but…"
"No, it's not just that, it's like… for a minute there. You were my Bucky."
"I thought I was your Bucky," he said with a small laugh. Steve said nothing but pulled him back into the embrace, holding him close. His eyes fixated at the lake beyond the door but his seeing himself and the life he had left behind fly away like a swift-fleeting vision.
He shook himself awake, remembering Natasha's surprising revelation. "We need to go sit down. There's something else I have to tell you…."