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Watch

Prompt - Power Broker

Low Town: Air musky and heady. Streets loud and unforgiving. Inhabitants dressed to the nines; weapons included.

Zemo waltzed through it - in his element; Sam marched as a soldier, very unlike the character he was meant to play. Bucky stalked. He was a shadow, deadly and ever-present... A silent guard dog. Here to protect them, his “Handler” Zemo and teammate Sam.

People filmed his arrival, blinking lights and starstruck eyes... like he was this celebrity of the underworld.

They passed some graffiti: Power Broker Is Watching

He shrugged, whoever they were… they’d just have to watch like everyone else.

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Warmth

Prompt - Longing 

The world was cold: titanium, cryochambers, icy eyed stares, snow, and Russia - The land of Winter.

After, it remained cold: river water, buildings with no heating, vibranium and dust slowly drifting on the breeze.

He lies on the floor every night, sweating but frozen in memories.

Prisons are cold, ones of the mind, flesh, or concrete. All the same…

Yet, under the skin of his palm, they are warm. Pulse beating, blood flowing...

Around him, the world: chaotic and hot... Scolding to the touch. His cheeks burn red.

With them... It’s not so cold.

It’s nice to feel warmth.

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I See You

Prompt - How To Say No To The One You Love

Everything Zemo did was deliberate, from a fake smile wrapped in a layer of masks to an old saying rasped in his thick accent.

The knowing looks he sent Bucky, the playing coy smirks and sentences that could always sound flirty if you read the context.

Sam was not an idiot, he saw Zemo… And Zemo hid many a thing, but he did not hide his interest in Bucky… As dangerous as that was for the former HYDRA victim.

There was a reason he read that book, in front of them both…

A reason he provoked Bucky into getting angry…

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Overwhelmed

Prompt - Serum

Blood pounded in his head, his heart thumped, breathing harsh. Everything was bright, loud, overwhelming.

It had all gone to shit. Fucking Walker messed it all up! Manipulated him and Karli had escaped. 

He rushed to where Zemo had been held. Handcuffs hung without its captive.

Of -fucking- course he’d escape. 

He rounded the corner and stilled... Zemo was sprawled on the floor. His breath disappeared... 

No...

Blood. Head injury.

No!

Lying next to broken blue stained glass. The Bastard had found it!

But... He couldn’t be dead, right?

There was a slightest movement of Zemo's chest: Alive. 

Thank fuck.

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Attention

Prompt - Dancing

Zemo can’t dance for shit. 

It’s horrible to watch, though Sam can’t look away... Like a bad car crash. 

The man is having the time of his life. Maybe after all those years in prison, it must be nice to let loose. But prison is where the terrorist should be... Not living it up in Criminal Central. 

Sam isn’t the only one looking, somehow Zemo is getting a lot of attention...

And then there’s Bucky. Glaring a hole in the man’s head, eyes cool yet heated. He’s as not subtle as he thinks he is. There’s something there...

Sam knows.

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Innocence 

Prompt - Masks

Bucky carried the unconscious Zemo back to the safehouse, quietly and carefully... Trying not to think too deeply on how his chest felt tight, his insides squirmed uncomfortably.  

Zemo looked softer yet older this way, no hint of the usual masks and cunning overlaying his face.

It was unnervingly bare, the wrinkling and dark circles clear around his eyes, his normally tight smirking lips slightly open... Breathing lightly. His slicked hair had come loose, stray locks sticking to his forehead...

It felt like a violation... Seeing him this vulnerable. 

He looked human like this. Too fucking human. 

Bucky hated it. 

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Clothing 

Prompt  - I Have a Place We can Go

After arriving at Miss Carter’s, Zemo elected to not change. His clothes were much better quality than anything provided. 

He relished watching Samuel dress before him but James... He stared at the offered clothing, frozen...

Likely the choice overwhelmed his mind. 

He was about to suggest something he would enjoy eyeing the other man in, though sadly Samuel beat him to it. Shoving a black suit his way... Boring and dull. James nodded once and disappeared to change, hastily clawing at the harness as he retreated. 

He sighed quietly, what he would give to see James bare before his eyes... 

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Your Attention

Prompt - The Whole World is Watching

Miss Carter’s gallery in High Town was a mixture of brutalism and modernism with odd very luxurious items. It wasn’t a stylised choice he would ever want. But well, the pretty paintings were actually real. Not his favourites but he could appreciate good art.

He also could appreciate a good party...

Music pounded, lights flashed bright, searing his senses, the crowd flowed and crashed around him... Into him. The world pulsed and he was drowning in sensation. 

His skin soaked, burning. 

He felt the centre of attention. 

He glanced around catching James’ eye...

He was the centre of his attention.

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Melancholic Joy

Prompt - Free

Ayo, Shuri, T’Challa... They all said he was free. That he owed Wakanda a great debt for fixing his mind. 

But was he really that free?

As soon as HYDRA was whispered into his ear, he had rushed to his last Handler. Had let Zemo push him under, however brief... He had sunk into the deeps, the endless frigid calm that came with the Soldier resurfacing.

He had come back to himself eventually, but that emptiness had been so familiar, so reassuring. He was afraid what he would say if asked again... To go under...

Afraid he would say “yes”. 

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His Hands

Prompt – Luxury

Zemo's hands were wrapped in leather, finely crafted and expensive. Gloves modified for extra dexterity but padded to take heavy blows better.

Underneath, the hands were not soft. Calloused, rough – a workers hands, a soldiers – those very unlike a nobleman... Yet, they were still treated with care. Cleaned with French lavender soap. Lathered in creams rich in Argon oil and Bergamot. Even after being drenched in blood.

Zemo rarely showed his bare hands, often hidden behind his gloves. A layer between him and the real world... A barrier from real touch.

Even the Baron’s hands were masked.

Bucky wondered why...

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Trickster

Prompt – Handcuffs

Zemo was a tricky bastard to pin down. 

He’d got out of Walker's handcuffs with ease... Not that handcuffs would’ve stopped him anyway. Disappeared and reappeared in the heat of battle on the docks surprisingly well for someone past their prime. He knew when to make himself scarce when he wanted to and had Goddamn vanished when the Wakandans arrived. 

Pulled an El Chapo indeed. 

Zemo was a tricky bastard to pin down... If you didn’t know him. Sam wouldn’t have a clue. 

But Bucky was starting to see the patterns. 

He’d been listening. 

And Zemo... He was getting predictable. 

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Injured Soul

Prompt - Injured

Bucky knew many things about himself: the man he used to be, the Monster he had become for HYDRA, and the man he was now. 

There were also many things about himself that were lost to time, facets of his personality beaten out of him, well... that along with the traumatic brain injury.  

And there were many things he did not want to know... About his time as HYDRA’s pet assassin, before that in the grueling war, being activated again by Zemo.

Things that kept him up every night...

Strangely, Zemo crossed his dreams and nightmares much more than expected. 

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Unanswered Questions

Prompt – Ideals

“But what about Bucky?” 

Well, that was the question, wasn’t it? 

What about James Barnes...?

The Winter Soldier... Or ‘former’ as James liked to call himself.

The Super Soldier had been controlled, abused... Used. By HYDRA. By himself. 
Was he really any better? Maybe, maybe not. They hardly were a person then... 

Dangerous, strong, beautiful... Still a weapon, no matter if James said he wasn’t. All it took was someone to prod the right buttons and he’d be a toy soldier again. 

Although, James had never asked for this. 

“But what about Bucky?”

Honestly, he was still thinking on that. 

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Where You Stop Running

Prompt – Escape

Bucky tracked Zemo down to old Sokovia, well… former-Sokovia nowadays, to the monument he had mentioned just days prior. Zemo hadn’t been subtle in his hints, not to Bucky anyway. It was rather obvious where the Baron would go.

Here the scene was calm, a lake, the mountains, just beyond the devastation – a few miles away. Beautiful in its mournful and morbid way.

Zemo stood, solemnly, straight-backed and silently. Staring at those faces; a forgotten family craved in stone, fount to the endless victims.

This is where he had ran to…

This is where he had decided to stop running.

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Cycles of Change

Prompt – Truth

The truth was Bucky struggled to get up in the mornings, nightmares commonplace, a new world outside he was still learning to navigate, and learning to be free was the hardest of all.

He could stay in bed all day or he could get up and go out, his choice. Eat or not eat, at any time, any foodstuff, it was all his own choice. No Commander to order him to do anything. No one’s say mattered.

True freedom was his... And it terrified him.

He craved order, routines, things not changing.

The world changed constantly… But he did not.

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Having Nothing

Prompt – Loss

At one point of his life Zemo thought he’d lost everything: His Country, Family, Squad and Home. His Wife and his baby boy being the most significant of those losses...

In short: Everything.

But, looking back, at that time he was wrong. He had his health, his wealth and his freedom. With all those things gone, he had never been so free. No ties to anything. He could have disappeared and no one was none the wiser.

It wasn’t until he met James the second time that he truly understood what losing everything meant… Looked like... It looked like James.

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Not Your Hell

Prompt – Guns

With a gun to his head, Zemo was unusually quiet and reserved; he did not shy away, he stared Bucky down, he did not plead... Not verbally, definitely not for mercy. 

The Baron’s eyes, dim with a dying light, said all they needed to. The little nod was unnecessary. 

He accepted this. He deserved this.

Do it. 

But it wasn’t Zemo’s choice,

And Bucky didn’t want to. 

So he watched, as the metal bullets pinged one by one on the cobbles, something in Zemo break.That light went out. 

It died. 

And Bucky felt regret, regardless that he did right. 

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Haunt Me Alone

Prompt - “I Knew You’d Be Here.” 

Even cities sleep sometimes when the light dies and it’s not quite safe. People locked in houses, locked in dreams of the silent night. 

Not him though, never him. 

His dreams were never safe. 

He sat on the roof, glaring at the clouds obscuring the stars. He would rather see the distance orbs than blankets of grey. 

He soon realised he wasn’t alone. 

Those footfalls, not Sam’s but recognisable. 

He refused to glare his way as they sat beside him, and for once he was quiet. 

A glass of amber liquid was pressed into his hand. 

So they drank silently. 

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Play Me Like Your Favourite Fiddle

Prompt – Mercy

He’d been at Zemo’s mercy before, when his own mind was taken from him, and almost killed Steve and many others. 

Now to be at his mercy once again but playing pretend... It made his skin crawl, it felt ugly and disturbing. 

Calm too. So quiet... 

Orders were easy. 

Worryingly, he still wanted to do it. 

He hadn’t appreciated the first time he had James, the deathly Winter Soldier, under his control. 

Now he wished he had, the power he felt at just pretending to hold his leash. So intoxicating. 

James was so beautiful. 

He wanted to do it again. 

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To The End of My Line

Prompt – A Favour

Zemo passed over a small enclosed envelop to his oldest friend. “Oeznik, I need a favour. Can you ensure these changes to my will are made immediately?”

His friend nodded. “Of course, anything major to have changed?”

“I have added Samuel and James to it.”

“The American Soldiers?” The older man queried, brow quirked.

A nod. “They’ve allowed me to see the Sun one more time... I’m grateful.” 

That wiry smile twitched.  “Of course, Master Zemo.”

“I have another to ask... Eliminate any remaining Flagsmashers, if I cannot get to them.”

“Consider it done.”

“Wonderful, one last thing...”

“...?”

“Retire.”

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Those Moments Wasted On You

Prompt - Goodbye, James.

Final Goodbyes were hard. Always had been. 

He’d missed so many important ones... His parents, his Sister, his friends and his Squad. 

Yet, he’d wasted five Goodbyes on Steve. Leaving for War, that look shared before the fall, dragging his body to that riverbank, the moments before being dusted and standing beside that damned Time Machine. 

Steve was gone. No more Good-Bloody-Byes.

And here he is saying Goodbye to someone that doesn’t deserve it. The Baron didn’t deserve a footnote but here they are. 

Maybe it’s closure... Raynor would say. 

Regardless how Bucky felt about Zemo, Goodbyes were still hard. 

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Right Beside You

Prompt - Imprisoned

Zemo was meant to be locked up.  

He deserved much worse then that... He'd killed, destroyed, taken control of what wasn't his to control. 

He was a villain. Criminal. He deserved the Raft. 

Or did he? 

Bucky’s own ledger, his own crimes, were greater than Zemo’s. Yet, he wasn’t also locked behind Super-Soldier proof glass. Gawked at by Ross and others. With the worst of the worst. 

Zemo wasn’t the worst. 

He was Human, so ultimately Human the things he did made him a vicious villain. 

Bucky wasn’t all that Human anymore. 

Maybe he should be behind glass... Right nextdoor. 

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Directions Unclear

Prompt - None

For all Zemo's obvious looks, sly commentry, the firm touches, and frankly well-worded innuendo... James just didn’t respond quite how he wanted. He’d had looks back and he’d liked them. James’ eyes were endlessly expressive. Ice blue full of life, of horror and of heartache.  

He’d provoked him into rage and while it was well... Thrilling, it didn't end how he had wanted. 
He’d humiliated him too. Still didn't get the right response. 

Surely James had picked up on his interest. He pushed but he just didn’t push back right.  

He liked James. Soldier or not. 

Couldn’t James see that?

10 Things I Should Hate About You

Prompt - None

He should hate him. 

He didn’t.

Not enough to kill him. Not enough to injure him. Or scream at him, demand a lifetime of apologies from his lips. 

He shouldn’t like his lips. Not the way they quirked when he was being a sassy bastard, how they formed words in many languages, or how sometimes the things he said were witty and interesting. 

He was certainly intelligent.

He shouldn’t like that intellect. Dangerous, cunning and ever-scheming. He probably already had ten plans to escape. Another five on how to kill Bucky or something just as sinister. 

He should hate him... 

I’m Not A Relationship Therapist

Prompt - None

Sam had had enough. 

The air was charged with tension. A certain type of tension...

The two idiots that were his temporary allies were staring and glaring, in Buck’s case, at one another. Like two predators trying to out predator each other? 

He wasn’t any good at metaphors. More of a Physics and Math guy. 

But a very pissed off guy. 

Normally he would say to a couple... Just go fuck it out... Consentually and happily sort yo shit out!
But he couldn’t to these dumbasses... One was a manipulator, another a ticking time bomb and former victim. 

Why him...?