When You Were Never Mine: Part 3

Zemo

"So, when do I let him see me?"

"You don't," Sharon answered sharply. "This bar is full of people who wouldn't need to think for longer than a second about killing any one of you for the right price, and from the looks of it that price wouldn't be much. You asked me to get you in, so you're in. Beyond that, you're on your own."

"I know," you groaned softly with a frustrated shake of your head, "and I also know that you took a huge risk helping me, so I appreciate that. It's just hard for me to stand here and act like I can't see what this is doing to Buck. Whatever Zemo's making him do, it's messing with his head. He left the Soldier behind a long time ago."

"I thought you refused to connect anymore?"

"I don't have to. It's the look in his eyes."

"And you're sure he hasn't seen you?" she asked under her breath. A man passed by your table, a bit too close for comfort, but before she could react, he was already gone. You both followed him with your eyes, keeping as still as possible to not draw any attention. "What the hell are they up to?"

You could feel the hair on the back of your neck react and tingle with a nervous anticipation as you watched, glancing to Sam as he seemed to be feeling the same as you. "No idea," you finally replied, "but trust me, you'll know right away if he sees me."

"So, stay back," Sharon commanded, "I've gotta go. I can't be here when things take off. Meet me back at my place in High Town in an hour. I can hide you until your flight out. We need to limit the chances of them seeing you."

"I have to talk to Sam-"

"(Y/N). One hour."

"Fine," you smiled curtly. "One hour."

But you wouldn't honor that promise, and your direction to stay out of sight was quickly ignored when you couldn't hold yourself back. As soon as Zemo gave Bucky the directive to act, to play the Soldier one more time, you feared the worst, and that maybe Shuri and Ayo hadn't been as successful as they had thought. Bucky played it too well, too convincing, and far too terrifying. As the final body thrown in his assault hit the bar top, the crowd parted just enough so that your eyes met across the room, and he was frozen in place. Sam felt the shift and grabbed Bucky's arm to hold him steady, grounding him in a reminder of the plan to stay in character no matter what.

"You good?" he asked quietly, affording a small glance your way.

All Bucky would offer him was a firm nod and a huff under his breath, looking at Sam with a wordless dare to say another word as they both turned and walked away as if they had never even seen you.

Zemo, in contrast, looked back with a slight grin, already several steps ahead in his plans that now had welcome opportunity to include you.

~~~

After their own encounter with Sharon in one of the dark alleys of Madripoor, the three men found themselves on the way to High Town under her guard and to find a few minutes of safety at her home. Maybe she had forgotten that you were going to meet her there, or maybe she couldn't have planned this better if she had tried, but they were now on the way to you for what would likely be an entertaining reunion to witness.

"Did you see her?" Bucky whispered to Sam. "You saw her, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"What the hell is she doing here? Did you call her?"

"I talked to her," Sam admitted, "but I never said anything about where we were or what was going on. I have no idea how she tracked us down."

"Why did you talk to her?"