Chapter Text
They drove neither to Zemo’s house in Novi Grad nor the estate of Zemo’s father. Instead, they pulled up in front of a hunting lodge, outside of Novi Grad, which was owned by a former associate of Heinrich Zemo. Though apparently the man only went there for one week during hunting season. As this was still months away, it made the old two-story lodge into the perfect hideout for the moment. Eventually, Zemo was planning to bring his family home, but they had to make sure first that no one was looking for them. And that everyone who had been working at the Hydra base in Sokovia was either dead or locked up for good.
Heike took Carl upstairs to one of the bedrooms to get some rest, while Zemo, James and the twins went into the kitchen where Zemo prepared some tea for them.
“I did not expect to be housing two additional people, but I assume we should find some clothes among what I packed for Heike and me, that will fit you,” Zemo said, looking over the twins’ hospital garments.
They only nodded and did not answer verbally, since they were busy staring at the teacups Zemo had put in front of them. Quite understandably they did not seem to trust his hospitality. Only after Zemo and James were drinking their tea, the twins took careful sips.
“Is there anyone we can call for you? Or any place we should bring you?” Zemo asked.
Wanda shook her head. “Our parents are dead. It’s just us.”
“I am very sorry to hear that,” Zemo replied. “If you want, you can stay with us until we can be sure that Hydra is not looking for you.”
“Why would you choose to help us?” Pietro asked.
“I have a problem with everything Hydra stands for and with everyone who chooses to enforce their twisted worldview on the rest of the world. But I can also understand that tough times can make uneasy alliances necessary. I do not judge you for seeking power through Hydra if that was the only option you thought you had.”
“Is that why you were with the Americans?” Wanda asked. “Because it was the only option to safe your family?”
“Partially yes, but Hydra does not only operate in Sokovia. While my main goal was to eradicate Hydra from our country, I also do not want any other nation to suffer because of Hydra’s twisted games. Hydra is a far too powerful organisation to oppose without some extraordinarily strong back-up.”
“It may conflict with your previous experiences, but the Avengers are trying their best to help,” James pointed out.
Pietro just huffed, while Wanda shook her head. “Sokovia doesn’t need their help.”
Zemo just sighed and chose to not discuss the topic further with the two very obviously misinformed young people.
“Anyway, should we have a look if we can find some clothes for you?”
The twins agreed and followed Zemo up the stairs while James stayed behind in the kitchen.
The upper floor of the lodge had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. One of the bedrooms was already occupied by Heike and Carl, though fortunately they had not brought their luggage into their room yet, so Zemo could equip the twins with some sweatpants and t-shirts from Heike and himself. While Wanda and Pietro vanished into the two bathrooms, Zemo silently opened the door to the bedroom his family was in.
Seeing Heike and Carl securely curled up on the bed, helped him to breathe a little easier. He had not allowed himself to even entertain the idea that he might not be able to get them back. Without them he knew he would be lost. Nothing more than a living ghost.
He carefully closed the door again, to not disturb their sleep and then went back down into the kitchen. James was looking through the pantry and the fridge, obviously in search of something he could make a quick meal out of. Zemo found himself smiling. The amount of food James was able to consume never ceased to amuse him.
“Do you also want a sandwich?” James asked while gathering the necessary ingredients.
“Thank you for the offer but I think I will settle for something a little lighter,” Zemo replied and took a pear out of the fruit bowl. He made a mental note to thank Oeznik next time he saw him for preparing the lodge during the day and bringing some food.
James focused on making two big sandwiches for himself for a bit, then he sat down next to Zemo.
“Steve called while you were upstairs,” James said, before taking a bite out of his sandwich. “He would like to come by and talk to the twins.”
“You told him that they are with us?” Zemo asked with a raised eyebrow. While he knew that James trusted Captain Rogers due to their previous friendship, he did not share the sentiment.
James nodded. “Since he and the others knew that they had been around the base, they had been looking for them. Obviously, they didn’t find them, so Steve asked if we saw them on the way out.” James looked at Zemo for a moment. “Would you have preferred if I would have lied to him?”
“Not necessarily, but I fear that they might trust us even less when Captain America shows up here.”
“I’m sure Steve will arrive without his suit.”
“You know what I mean. His clothes are not the problem.”
James sighed. “I know. But I can also understand that he wants to make sure that they are not dangerous.”
“Oh, I would say that they definitely are or at least could be. But antagonising them will not make that less problematic, only more.”
“If that’s what you think then I am surprised that you let them anywhere near Heike and Carl.”
“When your friend and I encountered Wanda in the lab with Dr. List she made it very clear that she was not in favour of Hydra experimenting on children.”
“That fits with her voicing opposition to Hydra experimenting on me without my consent. But a halfway decent moral compass makes it even weirder that they had been working with Hydra willingly.”
Zemo shrugged. “I would assume they thought that the end would justify the means.”
“Possibly,” James said, before focusing on eating his sandwiches. Afterwards Zemo joined his family in the bedroom upstairs, while James stayed in the spacious living room. Zemo fell asleep fast with the knowledge that Heike and Carl were safe and that James would make sure no one would be able to get to them.
James jerked awake on the couch in the morning, when Carl was jumping down the wooden stairs.
“Mama will be making pancakes for breakfast, Uncle James,” the boy announced happily, while climbing onto the couch next to him.
“That sounds great,” James said, trying and failing to suppress a yawn.
“If you are still tired then you went to bed too late,” Carl said.
Under different circumstances James would have smiled at him sounding so much like his mother, but since he had been up for most of the night to make sure that no one was trying to kidnap Zemo’s family again, or worse, he found it hard to keep up the happy façade.
“Carl, you know what we said about bothering others in the morning,” Heike said, while walking down the stairs. Zemo followed her quietly.
“He’s not bothering me,” James said, at the same time as Carl started to apologise.
“Anyway, he will be helping me to make pancakes now, right Carl?”
“Yes,” Carl exclaimed happily, jumping up from the couch and following his mother into the kitchen.
“I don’t know how they do this,” Zemo muttered, slowly shaking his head. “One could almost believe that the last two days didn’t happen. Their resilience is inspiring.”
“Well, I would say that they never doubted for a second that you would come and rescue them,” James said standing up from the couch so he could put his hand on Zemo’s back, while the other was looking through the doorway into the kitchen.
“We rescued them, not just me,” Zemo pointed out.
James shrugged. “Same difference.”
They joined Heike and Carl in the kitchen. Wanda and Pietro soon followed. Around Heike and Carl, they seemed a lot less worried than last night with only James and Zemo around. But since James knew first-hand what calming effect Heike could have on someone who was very unsure of their environment, he was not surprised.
They had just started to dig into their pancakes when James hear a car approaching on the gravel road leading up to the house.
“I think Steve is here,” James said and took another bite of his pancake before making his way over to the entrance. He didn’t reach for the gun that was shoved in the back of his pants to not unsettle anyone. Especially since one glance out of the window confirmed that it was Steve who parked a car next to the van. Though James frowned when he saw that Steve wasn’t alone. Tony Stark was with him. But at least both of them were wearing civilian clothing. No shield or metal suit in sight.
James opened the door for them and was greeted by Steve with a brief hug and by Stark with a polite nod.
“Do you also want breakfast?” Heike asked, when they came back into the kitchen.
“Thank you for the offer, Mrs. Zemo, but we have already eaten,” Steve replied.
“Oh, no need to be so formal, please call me Heike.”
Steve didn’t get a chance to answer because Stark had entered the kitchen behind them, making the twins freeze in their seats. Then Pietro’s fork dropped down onto his plate and Wanda raised her hand. Red sparks were flying along her fingers making Carl exclaim in excitement, while Steve, James, Stark, and Zemo immediately prepared themselves for trouble.
“Wanda, those are our allies,” Zemo said calmly.
“He’s a murderer,” Wanda growled, sending red sparks flying. Steve pulled Stark out of the way and got hit in his stead by the energy which send him flying against the wall.
James moved before anyone else could. He rushed towards Wanda and grabbed her wrists, stopping her from waving her hands around and thereby stopping the red sparks from leaving her palms.
“Don’t even think about this as long as there are innocent people in the room,” James said, his tone sharper than a blade.
Wanda’s gaze moved to the left where Carl was staring at her with wide eyes.
Pietro moved out of his seat faster than anyone could react. Stark let out a surprised sound, as he was pushed back towards the front door.
While a part of James appreciated that Pietro was moving the conflict away from Carl and Heike, he still couldn’t let the twins attack Stark.
“Steve!” James shouted, certain that he should not let go of Wanda’s wrists, especially now that she started to struggle against him.
“On it,” Steve replied, as he got up from the floor and went after Stark and Pietro.
“Let me go!” Wanda demanded, the red sparks now dancing along his left wrist, causing little sparks and sudden flashes of pain. James didn’t let her go.
“Wanda, listen to me,” Zemo said in Sokovian. “Whatever he did, hurting or even killing him will not change what happened.”
“What would you do, if he had killed your family?” Wanda spat.
Her magic must have found a weak spot in his arm, because suddenly, his left arm was only a deadweight at James’ side, dropping down and releasing her wrist.
“I would probably make sure that he would pay for it,” Zemo replied. “But killing him would make it too easy for him. I would make him feel what I felt.”
“Helmut this is horrible advice,” Heike chimed in.
“I am only being honest, Love,” he replied.
“Let go of my other wrist, or you will lose your real arm as well,” Wanda said, staring up at James with an impressive amount of defiance in her gaze.
“I just don’t want you to do something you might regret,” James said, as he let go and took a step back.
Wanda didn’t reply. She got up from her chair and followed her brother, Steve and Stark. James looked briefly at Heike and Carl, then he rushed after her. His left arm still felt weirdly numb but ideally there would be no need for more violence.
Stark was leaning against the entrance door, his hands raised in surrender, while Steve had Pietro secured in an armlock.
“Look, whatever you two think I did, I’m sorry,” Stark said, looking at first Wanda then at Pietro. “But I did not murder anyone.”
“Is that what you tell yourself to sleep better at night?” Wanda asked. “How many families do you think were torn apart by your weapons?”
“I shut down Stark Industries weapon manufacturing program,” Stark pointed out. “Several years ago, actually.”
“No early enough for our parents to not be ripped apart by one of your bombs,” Pietro said, still struggling against Steve’s hold.
For a moment Stark was silent. Then he cursed. “Fucking hell. Cap, let the kid go.”
With a doubtful expression, Steve dropped his hands and took a step back from Pietro.
“I am very sorry, and believe me, if I could bring back everyone who died because of my mistakes I would do so in a heartbeat,” Stark said. “But hurting me, won’t bring your parents back.”
Wanda and Pietro looked at each other for a moment, then they disappeared back into the house without any reply to Stark.
“I guess you were right with questioning if I should tag along,” Stark said to Steve, obviously trying to break the tense atmosphere with a joke.
“Why did you come?” James asked.
“To offer my humble engineering skills,” Stark replied with a nod towards James left arm, which was still handing on his shoulder like a deadweight.
“That wouldn’t have happened without you showing up here,” James pointed out.
“Ok, you got me. I was curious.”
James frowned. “About the twins?”
“Yes, but also about you. What happened down at that base when we fought? Steve was unfortunately very vague in his explanation.”
“Because I barely know anything either,” Steve chimed in.
James sighed. He had assumed that this question was destined to come up at some point. “Would you mind if I finish my breakfast before we talk?”
“No, that’s fine. I’m not in a hurry. Though I might try and see what kinds of tools I can find around here.”
“Knock yourself out,” James replied, before turning around and returning to the kitchen.
After finishing his pancakes with ever rising anxiety, James ended up in the living room, with his arm resting on the back of the couch, while Stark was sitting right in front of him looking at the tech with concentration.
Heike and Carl were somewhere outside playing under Zemo’s watchful eye, while Steve was upstairs to try and talk to the twins. Since there had been no sounds of breaking furniture or a big body hitting a wall, James was optimistic that their conversation was going well. The same could not be said about him and Stark.
“You want to tell me what your weird behaviour was about?” Stark had asked, after he started to open the plates of the arm to get to the gears and wires underneath.
James was still thinking about a good answer, but apparently that was not stopping Stark from trying to fix his arm.
“What did Steve tell you?” James asked eventually.
“What Zemo told him. Hydra did a number on your head, apparently.”
“That’s one way to put it,” James muttered.
They were quiet for a while and Stark continued to do something with the arm.
“So, what’s up with that creepy song?” Stark asked eventually.
“It’s a nursery rhyme,” James answered. “It … helps me to come back to myself. Helmut and Heike helped me to implement that into my brain in addition to Hydra’s code words.”
“So, their code words control you?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“Hm… why didn’t you try to unlearn their words?”
James huffed. “If you know how that should work, be my guest.”
“Well, I personally don’t, at least not yet, but there recently was a suggestion in the R&D department of Stark Industries to utilize holographic technology to bring memories to life to work through issues.”
“The trauma is not the problem,” James mumbled. “I think you would need a lot more than a therapy session to fix what they did to my brain.”
“Maybe. But the tech isn’t ready yet anyway. Unlike your arm, which should be working again now.”
James carefully wiggled the fingers of his left hand, and it did actually work.
“Now that I have seen the insides of this beauty, I do have some suggestions on how the whole situation could be improved,” Stark said, before James had even the opportunity to thank him for fixing the arm.
“Thanks for the offer but I …,” James started but Stark interrupted him.
“When they use those words on you, can they make you do whatever they want?”
James started at him for a moment, then he nodded.
Stark said nothing until he had finished to close the arm. “There you go. And I still would recommend you letting me work the details over with Jarvis at our workshop in the tower.”
“Thank you. For fixing the arm and the offer,” James said. “But I assume you can guess why I don’t like others working on the arm. A lot of bad memories.”
“I would do nothing without your explicit permission,” Stark replied.
“I know, I didn’t doubt that but, I’m not comfortable with this.”
Stark looked at him critically for a moment. “Because of the arm or because of me?”
James blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Are you sure you aren’t uncomfortable because of me? I had the impression that you are always avoiding me on purpose.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m avoiding you on purpose,” James replied. Though he didn’t doubt that he might try to avoid him subconsciously.
“As the Winter Soldier, you were the best weapon in Hydra’s arsenal, right?” Stark asked.
James frowned. “I guess you could say that.”
“Did they send you to kill my parents?” Stark asked. He was looking directly at James. His intelligent dark eyes tracking every little expression change on his features. James knew he could try to lie but that wouldn’t help.
“Yes,” he answered quietly.
“You omitted that from the file you gave to me through Pepper.”
James huffed. “I don’t think you can blame Zemo for omitting that. It’s a lot harder to sell us as reliable allies with that kind of baggage.”
Stark just stared at him in silence.
“I’m sorry you lost them,” James said. “I wouldn’t have done it if I had had the ability to say no.”
Stark nodded slightly.
“Since when did you suspect that it was me?” James asked eventually. Starks stoic reaction was not that of a man surprised by new information.
“When I saw the difference between you attacking me on von Strucker’s command and your behaviour after that nursery rhyme, I suspected that there had to be some things you didn’t tell us.”
“I’m sorry,” James repeated.
“Did … did they suffer?” Stark asked quietly.
“No, I … it was quick,” James muttered.
“Do you know why Hydra wanted them dead?”
“Your father had developed a new version of the Super Soldier serum. Hydra wanted it. And no witnesses.”
Stark sighed. “Of course he was working on a new version … Wait, does that mean there are more of you?”
“No, not anymore,” James said. “I’m the only Winter Soldier left.”
“Small mercies,” Stark said and got up from the couch. “I don’t blame you, by the way, for what you did under their control.”
“Why not?” James couldn’t help but ask.
“I looked the Winter Soldier into his dead eyes last night,” Stark answered. “And that wasn’t you.”
James released the breath he hadn’t know he was holding.
Stark smirked slightly. “What? Were you worried I would try to take my revenge out on you?”
“A bit,” James admitted.
“Under different circumstances I might have,” Stark replied. “But if I hadn’t already had the realisation last night, getting confronted with the kids of people my weapons killed sure would have made me reconsider in which glass house I should throw stones. Do let me know when we should upgrade your arm.”
“That’s still not happening,” James said.
Stark shrugged. “We’ll see.”