Retrograde▸bucky barnes

16. On a Jet Plane

The plane ride had been silent. Except for Zemo's consistent chatter that Lena felt was intentional in annoying them all. Only Sam seemed to be able to tune him out. Bucky kept shooting Zemo glares alternating with letting his eyes rest momentarily on Lena. She pretended not to see.

The tone of Zemo's voice was giving her a headache, not to mention the barely obscured references to her time as Lilith that he continued to make, but none enough to warrant launching herself across the cabin at him. She figured that since Bucky had already threatened to strangle him once, it was best to keep her mouth shut.

They touched down at an airstrip in the middle of nowhere, a clear, cold sky encompassing them, nothing but flat, desolate land stretching to the horizon. Despite chattering the entire flight, Zemo had divulged little information and Lena still felt she was in the dark on their plan. Perhaps that was his intention.

The small craft was not alone, in fact there were several other planes dotting the airstrip as Lena followed Bucky down the narrow steps. Her attention was momentarily captured by the elderly man greeting Zemo in a hug and Lena slipped, her weight falling forward much faster than she had intended. Bucky's arm swept out to catch her, fingers wrapping around her waist. Lena tensed and recoiled, the cool temperature of metal fingers on her skin sending a jolt of horror through her body.

Bucky pretended not to notice the look that crossed her features and dropped his hand without a word.

Lena was silent as they followed Zemo through yet another warehouse, less surprised than Bucky or Sam that the man had so much at his disposal. He left them standing alone in a neatly organized office, walls lined with half-empty bookshelves. She ran her fingers over the tops of their spines, finding them clean and free of dust.

"You never said who this guy was," Lena said.

"This is the guy who framed me for killing T'Chaka. And who tried to tear up the Avengers. All those things," Bucky said shortly.

"Shouldn't he be in like, I don't know, jail?" Lena asked.

"Yes, he should be," Sam said with annoyance, "But someone we know helped break him out."

"I did not-" Bucky started.

"How excellent. Lovely really. This makes me feel so much better about this," Lena scoffed.

"I think you know very well that I am exactly the sort of person who would do well in Madripoor," Zemo said, entering through a side door. He had changed into an expensive looking fur coat. Lena raised her eyebrows.

"I don't doubt it. It's just really compromising my own pardon if I suddenly am associated with the lot of you," she said.

Sam heaved a sigh, "This is what I was telling you Buck, she has a very good point."

"But what's the fun in following the rules? I never follow the rules," Lena said, grinning just because she knew it would annoy Bucky. In fact she was quite bothered by this whole state of affairs, but that had more to do with the super soldier in the room than anything else.

Zemo smiled, the light reaching his eyes, "I have arranged everything such that you can choose which rules you wish to follow. You don't have to follow any if you like, for Madripoor is a lawless city, as you well know."

He paused for effect, which earned an eye roll from Lena and a sigh of annoyance from Bucky.

"Magdalena, I have arranged for you to return to the city under cover of darkness and have spread a rumor that you've been there for weeks already scoping it out. From what I understand of your time spent there you held more power than most people realized. But most of those people are now dead. Or left. So-"