Winter Baron

Chapter Fourteen

It was around midnight, or twelve thirty when they made it back to Sarah's. Everyone was in bed now. Zemo was facing away from bucky. The drunken stupor he was in seemed to be fading slowly. He recalled his actions, and words. He didn't know what Sarah told Bucky, but he'd shown both of them the scars. He didn't know why he showed bucky.
Zemo had shown Sarah because she told him About her time as a volunteer at the trauma center. She spoke very calmly, and softly. She seemed to pick up on everything before he'd even said a word about the scars, so he felt safe enough to do so. Maybe it was the alcohol as well.
Whatever she told Bucky, or whatever Bucky thought he knew, Zemo couldn't say, but he remembered how he'd talked to Bucky while under the influence. How embarrassing...who knows what James thinks of me now...he probably thinks I'm insane...
Zemo finally gathered the courage to roll onto his back. Everything was spinning. He was so dizzy. His body felt heavy. The room appeared to be spinning, it even felt like the bed was spinning. Zemo closed his eyes, and fell asleep quickly. Bucky stayed up for about an hour watching him. His mind was racing. Full of questions. Finally he fell asleep, for maybe thirty minutes before he was woken to the sound of puking, from the man beside him.
"Hey." Bucky sat up.
"You okay?" He asked. Zemo nodded, and took a sip of the water on the nightstand.
"My nose burns."
"Yeah, that happens when you throw up." Bucky reached out to rub Zemo's back, but stopped himself. Zemo laid back down.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine." Bucky said, laying down. He watched as Zemo fell back to sleep, then passed out himself.
                                         ~
Everyone slept in, the following morning. The only ones to wake up early were A.J, and Cass once again heading to school. It was nearing noon when Sam went to the kitchen for food. That was the best sleep I've had in a while he thought, quietly making himself an egg sandwich.
                                          ~
  Zemo opened his eyes, and groaned softly. His head was pounding, and the light coming in from the window was bothersome. He got up quietly, and went to use the restroom. He no longer felt sickly as he had the night before. Zemo was now only dealing with the hangover. He made his way out the kitchen.
"Good morning." Sam said as he poured himself some coffee.
"Want some?"
"Please." Zemo sighed. He was squinting, as the sunlight seemed to be making the headache worse. Sam poured him a mug of coffee, and handed it to him along with pain killers.
"Thank you."
"No problem." Sam sipped his coffee. Zemo took two of the pills.
"You okay?" Sam asked. Zemo responded by shrugging.
"Are you hungry?" This time Zemo simply shook his head.
"Okay. Why don't you get dressed, and come take a walk with me." Sam smiled.
"Okay." Zemo nodded, and went to change. Bucky was still sleeping, so Zemo got his clothes together quietly. He met Sam outside on the porch.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Sam started walking. Zemo followed. Being nearly lunchtime the docks were quite lively. Sam smiled, and waved at many of the people bustling about. Eventually they made it to the end of the docks.
"Was there something you wanted to discuss?" Zemo asked finally.
"Kind of." Sam sighed.
"About last night?" Zemo bowed his head.
"I am truly sorry about my behavior."
"No it's not that. There have been times I've partied too hard myself, but I think you were doing it for a reason. Why?"
"Why?" Zemo sighed.
"Because of James..."
"Aren't you friends?"
"Yes, but..."
"But what?"
"I think James would like to be something more than that..."
"And you don't?"
"It's not that I don't...It may be the exact opposite...it's just that I'm married..."
"So you feel guilty?" Sam asked. Zemo nodded.
"You felt guilty over your feelings for Bucky because you feel that you're dishonoring your wife?"
"Yes..."
"I've never experienced anything like that before, but I'd suggest talking with Sarah. My sister has been through a lot, you too may not be that different. She also has children, so she may be better able to help you, or give you better advice, but I can tell you this. Bucky...he seems different when he's around you. In madripoor, and Latvia I thought he was just being his normal grumpy old self, but it's clear to me now he was just fighting off his own feelings. He seems very happy having you around. Do you remember after John hit you with the shield, the conversation we had."
"Yes."
"About super soldiers?"
"Yes." Zemo sighed.
"I know I am not a god, or a savior, Sam. I am sorry about Karli." Zemo said, however, he also wanted to say 'I told you so'
"It's okay, but you were half right."
"What?" Zemo looked at him. He hadn't expected the new captain to say such a thing.
"Super soldiers shouldn't have existed, but now they do. Granted I'm not going to kill them all because of that, but rather find a place for them I suppose."
"Like a nursing home, but for super soldiers?" Zemo asked. Sam laughed.
"No, not like that, but something. If they're anything like Buck, or Isaiah, then they are good people who've just been dealt a bad hand. That doesn't mean they can't belong."
"I see..."
"I asked you what you thought about bucky back then. I am asking you again."
"James." Zemo looked out at the water.
"I-I don't know...I am so confused...I feel so many things in regards to him, but if you're concerned that I mean to harm him, I do not. I can say for a fact that I do not want anything bad to happen to James. He is my friend. I've accepted that he was used, and was as you said dealt a bad hand. I will not hurt James. You have my word."
"Thank you." Sam nods.
"You certainly sound like Steve Rogers." Zemo smiled softly. Sam felt a flutter in his heart. Do I? He's just trying to be nice. Zemo didn't know Steve, or how he sounded. Sam blushed.
"Thanks."
"Not a problem." Zemo nodded.
"Well let's head back, and see if anyones gotten up yet." They began to head back to the house when Sam said,
"When John hit you, Bucky got into an argument with him, and so did I."
"Why?"
"Because you were actually helping us. Far more than he was. Just know Buck was pissed. I guess because he feels for you. John wanted to arrest you, but Bucky being Bucky, he scared John off." Sam smiled at Zemo.
"He was also the one who carried you back to your apartment, and put you on the couch, and put that warm washcloth on your head."
"That sounds like him." Zemo laughed softly, and blushed.
                                           ~
Back at the house Sarah was up cleaning around the kitchen.
"Morning." Sam said as he walked through the front door. She lifted her pointer finger to her lips, and made a shushing sound.
"Bucky's still sleeping."
"Sorry." Sam whispered.
"Don't you know how to wash dishes?" Sarah asked her brother. She'd just finished cleaning up the leftover mess from his egg sandwich.
"Sorry." Sam sighed.
"Where were you two?"
"We went for a walk, and now I'm going to go shower." Sam said, and left the room. Sarah continued to wash dishes quietly.
"Sarah..."
"Yes?" She looked at Zemo over her shoulder. He took a seat at the table.
"I'm so sorry."
"For?"
"My behavior last night, and the night before. I'm so sorry, I've been nothing but trouble since I've been in your home." He bowed his head apologetically. Sarah turned the water off, and set the dish rag she was using aside. She turned, and leaned back against the sink.
"Apology accepted." Sarah smiled.
"So what did you guys talk about?" She asked.
"James." Zemo sighed.
"You like him?"
"I think so..."
"Can I tell you something?" Sarah smiled softly.
  "Of course."
"I lost my husband...years ago...A.J was still little when it happened. Cass was even littler."
"I'm sorry." Zemo's face was saddened.
"It's alright. I'm sorry about your loss."
"I should have known you knew." Zemo smiles softly.
"Sam told me. I told him it wasn't our business, but he told me anyway, sorry." She said awkwardly.
"It's alright...I'm a bit glad he did. Now I don't have to." He smiles sheepishly.
"I couldn't imagine losing one, or both of my boys."
"If you did would you become a terrorist?" Zemo looks down at the table.
"I can't say." She sighed.
"I know for a fact though, I'd want to face the person, or people who did it...I would need Justice, and closure." She said looking down at the floor.
Zemo nodded.
"I wasn't with them when they died...I only found them two days later. I will never know what their final moments were like..."
"I understand. My husband was in the air force like Sam. He was deployed in Afghanistan. There was a bombing. He didn't survive...I'll never know anything besides that...what was left of his body was recovered, and brought home. We had a funeral, and that was it."
"I was in the sokovian armed forces, so while the avengers, and their machines were destroying the city, we were trying to defend it. After it was over, after those two days of looking through the ruins of my fathers home, I found all three of them." He wasn't going to go into any gruesome details. He reached down the collar of his turtleneck, and pulled up a necklace that was around his neck. She'd seen it last night.
"This was my wife's. I took it from her body before I buried her with our son..."
"I had a feeling." She smiled softly.
"James doesn't know, nor has he asked."
"He may have figured it out." Sarah suggested. Zemo shrugged.
"Have you thought about getting back out there?" Sarah asked.
"Out where?"
"On the scene. You know the dating scene."
"Oh...no..."
"But you feel strongly for Bucky?"
"Yes." He admitted.
"I know you may feel like it's wrong, but it's not."
"It's not?"
"I've been on a few dates recently. I haven't told the boys though. I don't know how they would feel about me moving on with someone who isn't their father, but I know he would want me to move forward, especially if it's with someone who will love our boys as much as he did." Sarah smiled.
"You-you don't feel that you're dishonoring him?"
"I did at first, but I saw a therapist, and she helped me realize that he would only want the best for me, and the boys."
"Did-did you feel guilty? Did you feel like you were betraying him, or that he wouldn't be able to forgive you, or that he would hate you?"
"Yes...I felt all of those things. It's not the same as a break up...we didn't choose these things to happen, they just did. Having feelings for Bucky doesn't mean that you love them any less."
"I don't know...I know all of these thoughts are just in my head, but not being able to know for certain, it scares me."
"It scared me too, but I think you should go for it."
"Go for it?"
"Yeah, Bucky loves you, I know he does, and if you feel the same, you should act on it. You might think you deserve to be alone, and sad, but you don't. Neither of us do." Sarah smiled at him. He met her gaze, and smiled. She's right. It won't be easy, but I have to try.
                                        ~
Bucky found himself having a strange dream. Not a nightmare, but it was odd. He was somewhere he didn't recognize. He was standing outdoors. I'm somewhere in Europe. He thought judging by his surroundings. The sky was gray, and covered by clouds. It was quite foggy, or misty. He looked down, and noted the green grass. Before him stood the ruins of something. A castle? He also noted the flakes falling from the sky. Flakes that could be mistaken for snow, but Bucky quickly deduced they were ashes.
He assumed he was in The Second World War again. This has to be, but where is everyone? Usually when I dream about the war Steve is here...we're usually fighting, but no one's here...I'm alone... He felt sorrow. Alone. He repeated the word in his mind. He has Sam, Sarah, and her kids, but that was it...he was still so alone. He noted he wasn't wearing his uniform either, he was dressed in his normal clothes. What kind of dream is this? I'm almost conscious. He sighed. At least this place is pretty.
"James!" He heard his name suddenly. It was coming from within the ruins.
"James! Help me!" It sounded like Zemo.
"Zem!" Bucky shouted, and ran into the ruins.
"Zemo, where are you?"
"James! James! Please save me!" Zemo's voice echoed around him.
"Zemo, where are you?" Bucky shouted again. He turned around in circles, as Zemo called his name, and screaming. It sounded like it was coming at him from every direction. Bucky sank to his knees, and placed his hands over his ears.
"Helmut!" He screamed for Zemo at the top of his lungs, and suddenly it stopped. Bucky stayed there, hunched over on his knees, shivering. It's freezing.
"James..." His name was spoken in a whisper, however it wasn't Zemo. Bucky looked up. He saw a pair of bare feet poking out from under a long white dress. He gasped, and jumped up quickly.
"James?" The woman before him spoke softly. She had wavy blond hair that went down a little ways past her jawline. It was being held out of her face by two silver pins. She had pale skin, and blue eyes. Her dress, white, with silver trim around the waist, and sleeves, which were short. There was a silver bow in the back as well.
"Are you James?"
"Yes. Who are you?" Bucky asked. She didn't answer. She looked incredibly sad. She's beautiful, but I've never seen anyone so sad before...
"What's your name?" Bucky tried again.
"Please James, you have to help Zemo..."
"How do you know Zemo?" Bucky asked suspiciously. What the hell is going on?
"Where is he?"
"You have to save him, please."
"I'm trying to, but I can't find him!" Bucky said, looking around.
"He was calling me! Where is he!" Bucky asked again.
"With you." She answered.
"What?" Bucky turned around in circles.
"Where?"
"James. Please, help Zemo. Please take care of him."
"I will." Bucky said, turning to face her again.
"I promise I will! I won't let him suffer anymore." His voice shook as he spoke. He meant every word of it, and he felt he would cry if he couldn't find Zemo, and save him from whatever was causing him anguish. The lady before smiled, and held out her hand.
"Will-will you take me to him?" Bucky asked. She nodded, still holding one of the most gracious smiles he'd ever seen on a person.
"Okay." Bucky reached out, and took her hand. As he did a small boy, maybe five, or six stepped out from
Behind her. He held onto her dress, and stared up at bucky curiously. Bucky recognized him immediately.
"Carl?" It was his facial features, and expression. They were very similar to Zemo's.
"Then you're-" he couldn't finish the question, as the falling ashes, and fog became incredibly, and increasingly thick.
"Heike..." Bucky whispered upon waking up in Sarah's guest room. He sat up slowly. That...that was a dream? Had to be, or maybe something else? He couldn't make sense of what he'd just seen, but he was going to take it as a sign. A sign that he was meant to be with Zemo. He got up, and got ready for the day.
                                             ~
Bucky stepped out into the living room. Sam was watching tv.
"Where's Zemo?"
"He's been hanging out with Sarah all day."
"Really?"
"Yeah. They seem to get along well, and they have a lot in common." Sam Said.
"We should have a race when the boys get back."
"Alright you're on." Bucky laughed.
"Where did they go?"
"To the store." Sam shrugged.
"Oh, okay... Is that legal?"
"What do you mean?"
"Zemo. He's supposed to be under my supervision."
"Yeah, but maybe you gave him permission to go to the store with my sister."
"If that's okay, then maybe I did." Bucky laughed again.
"It's fine... want to play Mario Kart?"
"Why? So you can beat me over, and over?"
"Maybe. Practice makes perfect, you know."
"Fine." Bucky sighed, and Sam got everything set up, however, Bucky's thought we're still focused on Zemo.
                                         ~
Meanwhile, Zemo was with Sarah at a local market. She decided to make chili for dinner. Zemo wasn't familiar with it, but he was looking forward to whatever everyone wanted to eat. He wasn't picky. The two went down the aisles, and Sarah gathered up the ingredients she needed, along with bread, and peanut butter. Zemo glanced over his shoulder, and did a double take when he noticed a man staring at him. It was the same man from New York. He turned his head.
"Do you see that man?" He whispered.
"Yeah."
"That's the man who stared at us in Walmart." Zemo whispered. Sarah glanced at him.
"The one who asked Bucky about the winter soldier?"
"Yes."
"Do you think he's following you?"
"I do believe so."
"Alright. Let's get this stuff, and call Sam when we get to the car."
"Alright." Zemo agreed. They went through the check out, and Zemo helped Sarah load the groceries into her car.
"Excuse me!" A voice came from behind them. Zemo turned. It was the same man. He wore a white button up that was tucked into a pair of black slacks, and a black blazer that was left unbuttoned. He was very business casual.
"Do I know you?" Zemo asked as through he'd never seen the man.
"I was going to ask you the same. You look really familiar."
"Is that so?" Zemo said tilting his head in a way that said 'I dare you'
"Yeah." Tha man chuckled innocently.
"Sorry to bother you." He turned to leave.
"Not to worry." Zemo said, turning away.
"Actually. I do know you." The man stopped, and turned back to them. Zemo turned around to face him.
"Do you?"
"Yes, but not you. Her." He pointed at Sarah.
"Sorry, but I don't know you." Sarah said.
"Well, we don't actually know each other, but you're Sam Wilson's sister aren't you?"
"How do you know that?"
"I wrote an article about our new Captain America, so I had to do some research on him." He shrugged before handing Zemo a paper with a web address on it.
"That's the article if you're interested. I'd love to know what he thinks."
"Of course." Sarah nodded. The man smiled, nodded, and walked off. The two watched him leave. Sarah closes the trunk.
"Let's go." She said, as they got in the car.
"That was so creepy." Sarah said as she buckled her seatbelt.
"I don't trust that man..."
"Do you think he was lying?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Sarah trusted Zemo's judgment of the man.
"Let's get out of here." She started the car, and drove out of the parking lot, while calling Sam. He answered.
"What's up?"
"We had a run in at the market."
"What do you mean?"
"Put your phone on speaker, so Bucky can hear."
"Okay." Sam said, turning on the speaker.
"You guys remember that man at the press conference you told us about?"
"The guy who stalked us through Walmart?" Bucky asked.
"Yes."
"What about him?"
"We just saw him."
"What?" Bucky was surprised.
"I think he's following you."
"Come straight home ." Sam said.
"Don't stop anywhere else."
                                         ~
  Sarah did as instructed, and took them back to the house immediately. Sam, and Bucky met them outside, and helped bring the groceries in.
"Did he say anything to you?" Sam asked as he brought in the last bag.
"Yes." Sarah said.
"What did he say?"
"He acted as though he didn't know who we were, but I know he was lying." Zemo said.
"How do you know?"
"Because I was doing the same." Zemo shrugged.
"He then said he recognized Sarah as your sister, he said he wrote an article about you, I suspect that was also a lie."
"He gave me this." Sarah handed Sam the paper.
"This is the article?" He asked, looking at the web address.
"So he says." Sarah shrugged. Sam glanced at Bucky. The two were growing increasingly suspicious.
"I'm going to start this chili before the boys get home. Anyone want to help?"
"I can help." Zemo nodded, and followed her to the kitchen.
"Should we check this out?" Sam asked Bucky.
"I don't know. What if it's one of those scammers, or something, and it kills your computer."
"If that happens, then I'll take it to Peter, or Bruce, or someone who can fix it."
"We know lots of technological people don't we?"
"We usually call them techies, but yeah."
"Whatever." Bucky shook his head.
"Proper usage of 'whatever' nice."
"Whatever isn't a new thing, Sam." Bucky frowned, and followed Sam up to his room. Sam sat down at the desk, and Bucky sat down on the end of Sam's bed. Sam typed in the web address. Both of them anticipated something to happen, the computer crashing, or be infected with a virus, maybe it was a prank that would take them to some porn site. They didn't know what to expect, but upon pressing the enter key, they were taken, to their surprise, an article about Sam Wilson.
  "So the guy is just creepy, and obsessed?" Sam sighed.
"I don't know." Bucky stood up, he didn't feel right about it.
"He specifically asked questions about the winter soldier."
"Let's look into this further after dinner. There could be something here we can't see."
"Yeah, can you save this, or something?" Bucky said, gesturing to the monitor.
"I'll bookmark it. Maybe we should have Zemo look at it. He's smarter than both of us." Sam suggested.
"I guess so." Bucky said, although he worried about getting Zemo involved. Sam stood up, and patted Bucky on the shoulder as they went back down to the kitchen.
"It's almost done." Zemo met them in the kitchen's door frame. He sounded quite proud of himself.
"Oh good I'm starving." Sam hummed.
"You actually ate breakfast." Sarah laughed, as she and the others hadn't had anything yet.
"You guys should have eaten something." Sam shook his head.
"It's not a hunger competition." Bucky laughed.
"I am excited though." He said when the back door opened suddenly. It was A.J, and Cass coming home from school.
"Front door, please. I'm cooking." Sarah said to the two of them. A.J sighed, and closed the door. A moment later the boys came in through the front.
"We didn't know you were going to cook." A.J said, putting his backpack on the couch.
"I texted you."
"I can't look at my phone in class!" A.J said, as he went up to his room. Cass set his bag down next to his brother's and followed him.
"It's true." Sam said, getting the table set for dinner. The boys came down a minute later, all ready for a relaxing Friday night, they sat down on the couch.
"Time to eat!" Sam called from the doorway.
"Yes!" A.J jumped up, and ran to the kitchen with Cass behind him. Everyone formed a line, and grabbed a bowl full. Cass sat next to Zemo. Bucky sat across from him. Zemo was still struggling to make eye contact with him. Why did I say all of those things? Bucky could see right through him now. He wanted to tell him everything was fine, but he thought it best to wait until later in private. A.J took a seat across from his brother while Sarah, and Sam took the ends of the table.
"Check this out." Sam said to Bucky, as he grabbed a slice of bread from the bag of wonder bread on the table. He then used a butter knife to smear peanut butter onto it.
"Watch, and learn." Sam said, dipping the peanut buttered bread into his chili. Bucky looked skeptical while Zemo tilted his head curiously.
"C'mon Buck. I showed Steve this life hack, and he loved it!"
"I'm not Steve."
"I didn't say you were."
"Everytime you show me something, you say 'Steve loved this!' Like I'm supposed to like everything Steve did."
"I guess I just hope that by saying that, it will increase the chances of you liking similar things." Sam shrugged.
"I'd like to try." Zemo said, taking a slice of bread.
"Thank you, Zemo." Sam said, while smirking at Bucky. He handed Zemo the knife, and peanut butter. Zemo followed Sam's motions, and dipped the bread into his chili. Bucky watched closely, as Zemo took a bite. He made a humming sound, and closed his eyes. He even smiled.
"See." Sam chuckled. Bucky nodded, and laughed softly noting that Zemo suddenly resembled a hamster, or a chipmunk. He's so adorable... Bucky had to try now.
"Pass it over." He said holding his hand out to Zemo. Zemo blushed softly, swallowing his food, he passed Bucky the peanut butter. Bucky did as the others had, and was completely surprised by how great these two things went together. The chili was warm, and savory, with a hint of spice. Not enough to burn Bucky's tastebuds off, but just enough to make one's lips tingle in delight. That and the peanut butter covered bread was almost too good to even describe.
"Are you feeling better now?" Cass asked Zemo.
"Yes, I'm sorry I scared you." Zemo apologized to both Cass, and A.J.
"It's okay." A.J said, as he took a spoonful into his mouth.
"Bucky will help me with a project before you go?"
"Of course." Bucky said, although he wasn't sure how helpful he would be compared to Sam, or Zemo.
"Hey, Zemo." Cass looked up at him.
"Yes?" Zemo answered.
"Who is Carl?" The room became silent.
"Cass!" Sarah spoke loudly, getting her son's attention. Zemo lifted his hand in a stopping motion.
"It's alright." He smiled softly, although the sadness could be seen in his eyes. Bucky's contained concern that everyone could see. Zemo looked at Cass.
"Carl is my son."
"Oh." Cass nodded. A.J looked at Zemo curiously.
"Where is he? Is he grown up?"
"No. He'd be about your age."
"Does he live with his mom? My friend lives with his mom."
"He is with his mom..." Zemo looked down at the food.
"Are they gone?" Cass asked, picking up on Zemo's emotions. A.J then grew quiet.
"Like daddy?" Cass asked, then both boys looked at their mother who nodded. Zemo gave them each a small smile, hopeful he didn't make everyone sad, and ruin dinner. Luckily Sam knew how to cheer people up.
"So guys, Bucky, and I are going to race later. Who thinks I'll win?"
"Nobody." A.J laughed.
"Be nice to your uncle." Sarah smirked. Bucky laughed then.
"You never know he might beat me."
"Yeah, and you might win mario kart." Sam retorted.  This certainly got things more lively again.
                                          ~
They waited a moment after dinner to digest before their race, at least that's what Sam suggested they do.
"Ready?" Bucky asked Sam.
"You know it."
"Alright." They were going to take two laps around the house. Zemo stood with the boys to watch. Sarah was standing on the porch. It was a little too chilly to be spending time outside in her opinion. Cass did a countdown, and the two started running. They were at the same pace for a moment before Bucky passed Sam, and disappeared behind the house.
"Dang!" Sam sighed, and started running as fast as he could possibly go, making it to the back of the house. Soon enough he heard the boys cheering, and Bucky was suddenly beside him again.
  "What did Steve always say to you? On your left?" Bucky smirked.
"Yes, that's what he said!" Sam yelled.
"All the time!" He kept running, with Bucky slowing down to match Sam's pace.
"Now why do you have to do that?"
"Do what?" Bucky asked, as they were now on the other side of the house.
"Slow down?"
"Just making sure you don't die, or anything." Bucky laughed.
"Very funny! But I'm not going to keep going if you let me win, you know that." Sam laughed.
"Yeah, I know." Bucky said, as the boys waved, and cheered for them when they came around to the front. Bucky noticed Zemo holding both of their hands, and smiling. Bucky found himself smiling back. They crossed the front yard. Still focused on Zemo, Bucky was unaware of the tree root coming up in his path. Sam ran past the trees, and vanished on one side of the house.
"Shit!" Sam heard Bucky's voice behind him, and glanced over his shoulder only to see Bucky had in fact tripped over the tree root, and was now on the ground.
"Ha!" Sam laughed, and kept going.
"James!" Zemo called out to him.
"I'm okay!" Bucky yelled, as he jumped back up. How the hell did that happen? He thought, running faster now. He caught up to Sam quickly.
"Jeeze!" Sam wasn't surprised, yet somehow he was surprised that Bucky had already made it back this far. They finally made it to the front yard, heading towards the path in the center, which they used for their finish line.
"Come on Uncle Sam!" A.J shouted. Sam pushed himself, as hard as he could. Jumping over the pathway just a second after Bucky. Both of them stopped, and fell into the grass. The boys jumped up, and down with excitement. Sarah came down into the yard. She was
Completely surprised.
"That's the closest one yet." She said,
"I thought I had it when you fell." Sam said completely out of breath.
"I did too." Bucky laughed, and sat up. Zemo held his hand out to Bucky.
"Thanks." He took it gently, and pulled himself up. Sam stood up, and dusted himself off.
"Oh, James." Zemo began to dust off the front of Bucky's jacket.
"Did I get grass all over me?"
"Just a little." Sam said, making a small circle with his fingers.
"What happened?" A.J asked Bucky.
"I don't know. I just wasn't paying attention." Bucky shrugged, and blushed softly. I was staring at Zemo like a creep.
"It happens." Sam patted Bucky's shoulder.
"Let's go in, and get some water, or some hot chocolate." Sarah shivered.
"Water." Sam nodded.
"Hot chocolate!" Cass was on the same page as his mother.
                                         ~
Back inside everyone had themselves a drink, and sat down. Cass, and Sam were trying to convince Zemo to play Mario Kart with them.
"I'm not very good at video games." He admitted.
"Don't worry I'll show you." Cass said.
"Bucky doesn't know either." Sam said, hoping to make him feel better.
"Alright." Zemo said finally.
"What's this project of yours?" Bucky asked A.J.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot! It's in my room, I'll show you."
"Sure." Bucky followed A.J up to his room. He turned on the lights.
"Here it is!" A large white sheet of thick project paper sat upon an easel. There were several photos printed out, and glued onto it.
"These are from the war?" Bucky asked.
"Yeah, my project is on World War Two. I thought maybe you could help me make my project better than the other kids."
"Well, I'm sure I could." Bucky shrugged.
"Where did you get the pictures?"
"Google."
"Right. Google, it has everything." Bucky laughed softly, and sat down on A.J's bed.
"I wanted to do an interview."
"An interview? With me?"
"Yeah, I've got this tape recorder. Mom got it for me for Christmas last year. There was no tv, right?" He asked, pulling the recorder out of a toy box, and sitting in the computer chair across from Bucky.
"No, but we had a radio."
"Exactly, so back then if someone did an interview it would be kind like this right?"
"Sort of, yeah."
"So I have the visual project, but if I bring, and interview from you, I'm sure I'll have the best project, and get the best grade."
"Alright, very clever." Bucky nodded.
"Is your class going to even know who I am?"
"Yeah, my uncle is Captain America, and they know that."
"Yeah, but I'm not...I'm not like Captain America..."
"Yes you are. You're his best friend, and you help fight bad guys, and stuff like that."
"Yeah, but..." if he doesn't know then the other kids likely don't either. The teacher might. Bucky sighed.
"I don't know about this, A.J. I...I might be Cap's best friend, but there was a time when I was..."
"Was what?" A.J raised an eyebrow. A bad guy...
"Nothing. Don't worry about it, I just don't want to get you in trouble."
"How would you get me in trouble?"
"I dunno-"
"Please, Bucky!" A.J begged, giving his best puppy dog eyes.
"Alright." Bucky sighed.
"You've officially suckered me." He said as A.J started the recorder.
"Take one!" He hesitated. There was a lot of noise coming from the living room. Specifically music from the game. A.J stood up, and closed his door.
"Ignore any Mario Kart sounds you may hear in this interview." He said. Bucky laughed through his nose. A.J sat back down on his computer chair.
  "Tell me about World War Two?"
"Um..."
"Wait. I should've introduced you first." A.J stopped the recorder, and started over.
"Take two! Hey guys it's A.J! Here with Bucky!"
"Bucky Barnes." Bucky giggled, adding his last name.
"Yes, that's him! Bucky's my Uncle's friend, and came all the way from World War Two!"
"Well, I came from Brooklyn, but it was in the nineteen forties..." I sound absolutely insane. He thought. Hearing himself say that out loud, it was surreal to say the least. Who would hear that, and believe it.
"What was Brooklyn like then?" A.J asked, more out of curiosity than for the project.
"Smaller. Less rats, but also less pizza."
"Doesn't sound good." A.J shook his head.
"Well you may think that because we didn't have television, or cell phones, computers, or video games."
"How did you survive?" A.J asked incredibly seriously. Bucky laughed.
"Steve, and I went to Coney Island a lot."
"It was still there?"
"Yes, we had amusement parks. Not quite like they are now, but it still had some rides, and games, and stuff."
"Did you go to the world's fair?"
"No." Bucky laughed.
"Honestly, I would have liked to." He admitted.
  "What else was different?"
"A lot of stuff."
"Like what?"
"Well I could go on, and on about what we didn't have that exists now."
"Yeah. Probably. America didn't get involved until Pearl Harbor. Tell me about that?"
"I wasn't there, but everyone was so angry. I Remember reading about it in the newspaper, and the next thing I knew we were at war. I was drafted, but it didn't matter, I wanted to join anyway."
"What happened next?"
"I went to Europe, after training, and..."
"And what?"
"And we fought."
"And you won?"
"Yeah, I didn't get to see all of that though...I..."
"How come?"
"I fell...I fell off of a train...the train was on a mountain...and it was snowy, and I fell into a forest. It was actually a very beautiful place, but..." he kept pausing. Why can't I speak?
"But what?" A.J's brow furrowed, he began to notice Bucky distress.
"I was taken..."
"But the old captain America saved you, didn't he?"
"Yes. Sam did too." Bucky smiles softly causing A.J to smile.
"Bucky?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for your help. We don't have to keep talking about it if you don't want to."
"Thank you." Bucky patted A.J's head, and noted a drawing on the wall by the computer monitor.
"Did you draw that?"
"Yeah."
"It's good. Steve was good at drawing too."
"Really? My uncle isn't."
"I don't think it's a captain America requirement." Bucky laughed.
"Want to go play?"
"Yes." A.J got up, and led Bucky back down to the living room.