bucky wasn’t sure how his atonement journey after his time as the winter soldier had brought him to madripoor with a bird man, and fucking zemo. well, sam wasn’t a bird man, but it was an appellation that was a great way to piss him off.

after the whole debacle caused by the institution of a new c4ptain america (sam’s fault for giving steve’s shield to the government) and an anti-nationalist group of super soldiers that aspired to return earth's governments and society to how it was between the snap and the blip (the flag smashers) a lead on the creator of the super soldier serum had brought them to lowtown.

guile and impersonation should have served as the first ominous harbinger of the evening, as if zemo leading the operation was not disconcerting enough. zemo was himself, sam was smiling tiger, you were a foreign broker, while bucky’s facade was slightly more complex.

he’d shaken off the HYDRA's malign conditioning during his respite in wakanda, yet now he needed to pretend to be a part of himself that was long dead.

hightown was charming. lowtown was another pain in the ass. there was no margin for error.

“let me guess,” sam grumbled as he clambered into the vehicle, wedging himself beside you, who were most unfortunate to find yourself the buffer between two ill-tempered men. “we don’t have any friends in hightown.” zemo simply shook his head as he shut the passenger door with a light click.

all bucky had to contribute was a terse incline of his head. it was jarring to see him back in gear; all leather and buckles, with the practicality of a pocket grenade. if he still had long hair, he’ve been a splitting image of his mugshot in the HYDRA secret files.

“i’m starting to think breaking zemo out was a bad idea.” he noted after a moment, voice low as his eyes surveyed the glistening water below the bridge; considering the fact that sam seemed quite distracted, his words were meant for you. if he was wary, he sure as hell wasn’t advertising it. “i forgot how annoying he was."