OowoO

— the balance of angelic grace and human soul

Ben Whishaw and Edward Holcroft as Danny Holt & Alex Turner

This Bucky with this Zemo 🥵👑

Zemo's 5 minutes in episode 5 completed a surprisingly wholesome character arc from Civil War and to the TFATW series.

Even knowing that Bucky was under Hydra's control, Zemo believed him culpable and saw no issue with either T'Challa killing him in misdirected rage or Tony killing him in vengeance.

He has now spent 2 (or 7) years sitting in a German jail, reconsidering his life choices. He has read the files on the Red Skull and the failed Winter Soldier program, and possibly even the Hulk. The super soldier serum is the hubris of mankind trying to break the laws of nature, so therefore it stands to reason that these people lose their hold on humanity.

When Bucky reappears in front of him, he doesn't believe Bucky when he says those days are behind him.

He knows Bucky wouldn't have come to face him alone if his brainwashing hadn't been deprogrammed, but he says the words anyway just to get a reaction, then continues to aggravate him after they break out.

He insists on Bucky resuming the Winter Soldier identity, then smirks to Sam over how easily Bucky returns to aggression. He goads Bucky several times, almost as a test to see when he might lose control. To his disappointment, Bucky explodes but always stops short of actually harming him.

Whenever he talks about super soldiers being inevitably corrupted by the serum, he glances at Bucky as though to say "I know you're pretending to have it together, but you are just like the rest". When Bucky protests that some might survive the serum without becoming corrupt, he mocks, "But there has never been another Steve Rogers."

But as relentless as he is in his preaching towards Sam (and Bucky), he starts to waver. It began with Bucky's notebook: 2 lists of names, one with his own between Hydra names he knew from Black Widow's data dump. It's the other list that catches his eye.

"Who is Nakajima?" he asks, not recognising it. He realises from Bucky's reaction that it's just a regular guy whose name never made it to the headlines, an unfortunate and unnecessary victim caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The super soldier was remorseful, and carried his atonement in his pocket.

As he launches into another lecture about the existence of super soldiers after destroying the serum, Sam turns to him and questions his conviction.

For once, Zemo was rendered wordless. He was losing his conviction.

After he steals away, he waits, unarmed and unaccompanied, for Bucky in front of the Sokovian monument.

It was a gamble, but even he himself isn't sure what he is gambling on.

If Bucky came, was that a sign of his elite assassin tracking skills, or of the man's empathy in recalling Zemo's off-hand remark about the monument?

As though to prove a point, he goads Bucky one last time when he does come.

He is unsurprised when Bucky points his gun at him - after all, he did see his own name on Bucky's list. He smiles and nods encouragingly at Bucky.

He's won, because Bucky is exactly the man he had foretold.

You are a super soldier.

All super soldiers will be corrupted.

You are programmed to kill.

The Winter Soldier is still in there.

But Bucky refuses to follow his script.

Zemo prides himself on his ability to read and manipulate his enemies. Even Steve Rogers, as close to flawless as that man might be, acted exactly as he forecasted in the confrontation with Tony.

T'Challa, and now Bucky, are the only ones to defy his predictions.

Sam had said, "Blood doesn't always have to be the solution," and Bucky showed him what that meant.

Maybe he had it wrong.

This Bucky with this Zemo 🥵👑

I know, I knoooow I’ll be damned because of this cursed ship, however, this fics are redemption ones (mostly), so there’s that.

Update: may 2021

♥♥♥♥♥ I want to give you more, but not everything. (You don’t need everything) by dfotw 

The idea of confessing to James is tempting in the same way that the idea of letting him put a gun to his head was. The exquisite vulnerability that Zemo would balk at coming from anyone else, feels like a balsam to his soul when it’s James wielding it. Zemo would, without a moment’s doubt, let James hold his throat in the unforgiving grip of his mechanical hand and never protest, or break eye contact, for as long as the touch lasted. If James wanted the world, either to save it or to destroy it, Zemo would gladly arrange to have it delivered to his grasp, with no expectation of reward.

♥♥♥♥ Captain Sokovia by Master_ObiWan_Kenobi

“The living are not done with you yet.” Zemo put on the shield. It felt strange, he wasn’t Captain America. He didn’t deserve it, especially after everything he did to the Avengers and to the world at large

♥♥♥The White Wolf is My Alpha by MotherLilith

Omegaverse Winterbaron fic with feels and plot. See chapter notes for more info. If you’re just here for Bucky/Zemo smut, go to chapters 4 and 7 🔥

♥♥♥♥ His Soldat by Ineedtherapy (gethelp)

When Bucky finds himself unable to fall asleep after what happened at the club, Zemo comes up with a way to help his Soldat to relax. The two of them start to realize that they need each other and work on their new dynamic. This is getting kinda long, so I think I should explain the general vibe, so I don’t waste your time: At the beginning it’s just Hurt/Comfort. They get together at some point and then there will be some sex scenes, but it’s pretty innocent at the beginning. For the most part it’s just them working through some issues.

♥♥♥♥ Tabula Rasa by Aelara_Vayne

If Bucky thought there’d be no price to pay for pretending to be the Winter Soldier again, he was wrong. When you can’t trust your own mind, who else is there?

♥♥♥♥ Little Darling by the_winterfloof_17

Six months… a long six months and now he was here, waiting for a foreign country to take him back. The freedom was enjoyable to say the least, not like Zemo had much to begin with.

♥♥♥♥  Not Done With You Yet by Thorny

Zemo almost wished Barnes had just shot him. Save him from another decade or two of sheer boredom while he suffered properly for the lives he had taken. It would have been one last kindness in repayment for mostly keeping his promises. However, Zemo thought darkly to himself, perhaps he didn’t deserve kindness. Or, Zemo gets an unexpected second chance from an unlikely source; the living aren’t finished with the baron just yet.

♥♥♥ Twin Souls by Driverpicksthemooseic (Ratkinzluver33) for SageGarnish

It’s terrifying how fine he feels, despite this. No chest pain, no concussion. Just a slight twinge at every swallow. No worse than a mild hangover. He’s healthy. Mostly healed. A ticking time bomb. (OR, Zemo gets the serum instead of Walker.)

♥♥ Men That Honour Titles by quarrelwithaboot

Bucky already has to deal with the return of several PTSD triggers, but the worst of all is in the form of Helmut Zemo who may or may not have more in common than he would like to believe. Slow Burn, enemies to lovers. As canon-compliant as possible.

♥♥♥ Drossel by SageGarnish

Bucky is helping Sam investigate a mysterious case of deaths that may involve a rogue HYDRA agent. So Bucky decides to visit Zemo on The Raft, to see if he knows anything. The problem? General Ross is convinced Bucky is still a weapon, and when Zemo escapes, Bucky is blamed despite the fact he knows nothing about it. Now Bucky is a wanted man, and he and his cat Alpine are on the run from Ross and the USMC, while Sam attempts to run interference. All this while frantically looking for Zemo, who may be in trouble… or may be behind all the trouble.

♥♥♥ Just Visiting by Fuddlewuddle

Two men: One stuck in prison, the other has no regard for the Raft’s ‘no visitors’ policy. Both fascinated by the other, they make a deal to get to know each other. They should have seen the end result coming really.

♥♥♥ Soldier inside me by Flamme19

The only thing Bucky Barnes wants is peace. But is that what Bucky really wants? And is peace what he needs? Bucky would say yes. The soldier thinks of something else. The soldier needs a mission. The soldier wants it.

♥♥♥♥Bambi Eyes by Fuddlewuddle

What happens when your enemy-turned-co-worker-turned-only-person-you-actually-like-but-refuse-to-admit-to starts calling you by a cute nickname, but doesn’t tell you why? Why you just go crazy thinking about all the possible reasons why he could be calling you it, refuse to mention it out loud, and just be an idiot in general, instead of actually just asking him about it.

♥♥♥ Sincerely, Fuck You by Louffox

To Mr. James Barnes, I have been permitted to send letters while in the Raft, per my good behavior, on the condition that Agent Ross examine them to ensure they are free of any content that could be dangerous to others, myself, or insinuate/participate in disruption of prison activities.

♥♥♥ The Strangest Ways by just_kiss_already

Zemo escapes the Raft and receives a guest with a request.

♥♥♥ The Darkness Alters (Adjusts Itself to Midnight) by ShadowsLament

After Zemo steals out of his own place, eluding the Dora Milaje, Bucky tracks him to a nearby coffee shop.

♥♥♥♥The Soldier’s Time by WinterSabbath

The Avengers used a time machine to snap back half the population. Zemo, still stuck in a Berlin prison, hears of this and comes up with a plan to sneak into the Avengers compound to use the machine. He only wants to hear his son’s laughter one more time.

winter soldier wallpapers