The Séance • Marvel

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier: Chapter 06

EP 3:

Sam, Bucky, and Vanessa were walking through the corridor on the way to talk to Zemo. "He's just through that corridor," says the guard. "All right. Give us a sec" Bucky told the guard, then turn towards Vanessa and Sam, "I'm gonna go in alone." "Why?" Vanessa asks, she was still sure that he was planning something. "'cause you two are Avengers. You know how he feels about that" Bucky says. "He doesn't even know who I am," Vanessa says. "And besides it's not like you two were known for frolickin' in the sun together" adds Sam. "He was obsessed with HYDRA. We have a history together. Trust me. I got it."

Sam and Vanessa stood waiting for Bucky to return. It didn't take too long before he walked out and lead them to a garage. "What are you talking about? You wanna break Zemo outta jail? Where the hell is, Buck? Have you lost your mind?" Sam asked Bucky. "We have no leads, no moves, nothing" Bucky argued. "What we have is one of the most dangerous men in the world behind bars," Sam said. "And we also have wight Super Soldiers that are loose." "Zemo's gonna mess with our minds. Especially yours. No offense." Bucky neared the light switch and turned on the lights. "Offense," he said, "Super Soldiers go against everything he believes in. He is crazy, but he still has a code."

Sam continued to argue with Bucky as Vanessa started looking around the garage. "I've been on the wrong side of that code, Buck and so have you. He blew up the UN, he killed King T'Chaka and framed you for it. Did you forget that? Do you think the Wakandans forgot about it? It's a rhetorical question. They didn't. I know why this matters to you, but it's pushing you off the deep end" Sam told Bucky. "Sam, we don't know how they're gettin' the serum. We don't even know how many of them there are. Look, let me just walk you through a hypothetical. Can I walk you through a hypothetical?" Bucky asked.

At this Vanessa turned towards Bucky, "What did you do?" "I didn't do anything," he says. "The weakest point in any system isn't the software, the hardware, it's the meatware. The human element. Now, in this lockup, it's nine to one, prisoners to guards. And if two prisoners start fighting, then the protocol says four guards have to respond" Bucky explains. "Why would two prisoners start randomly fighting?" Vanessa asked nearing where the two men were standing. "Who knows? There could be many reasons... But the point is, these things escalate. Lockdown procedures would have to be initiated, and with all those bodies flying around left and right, wouldn't be hard to slip down a hallway or two. And if the fire alarm got tripped while the prisoners were being separated... someone could use the chaos to their advantage" he finished explaining.

Sam looked over at Bucky, "I don't like how casual you're bein' about this. This is unnatural. Are you... And where are we, man?" Suddenly the door opens and in walks Zemo with a guard uniform. "Whoa. Whoa, whoa" Sam says. Vanessa rubs her face in irritation and looks over at Bucky with annoyance. "No, listen" Bucky starts only to be interrupted by Sam. "What are you doin' here?" "'What are you planning?' I asked. 'Nothing' you said. This doesn't look like nothing James" Vanessa said pointing at Zemo. "I didn't wanna tell you 'cause I knew you wouldn't let this happen," Bucky says. "What did you do?" Sam asked Bucky, then he turned towards Vanessa, "And you knew about it?" "Does it look like I knew Samuel?" Vanessa asks irritated. "We need him."

Sam points at Zemo, "You're going back to prison!" "If I may..." Zemo says in a calm voice. "No!" Both Sam and Bucky yell. "Apologies" Zemo muttered. "When Steve refused to sign the Sokovia Accords, you backed him. You broke the law, and you stuck your neck out for me. I'm asking you to do it again" Bucky told Sam. "I really think I'm invaluable..." Zemo says. "Shut up," Sam says. Zemo raises his hands in defeat "Okay." "If we do this, you don't make a move without our permission. Because otherwise, she can take you without even breaking a sweat" Sam said. "Fair" Zemo said. "Okay, Zemo, where do we start?"

"So our first move is grand theft auto?" Sam asked as the lights turned on to reveal rows of lined cars. Vanessa ran her hand on a red car, "Pretty" she said to herself. "These are mine. Collected by the family over the generations. I spent years hunting people HYDRA recruited to recreate the serum. Because once it's out there, someone can create an army of people... like the Avengers. I ended the Winter Soldier program once before. I have no intention to leave my work unfinished. To do this, we'll have to scale a ladder of lowlifes" Zemo said. "Well, join the party. We've already started" Sam said. "First stop is a woman named Selby. Mid-level fence I still have a line on. From there, we climb" Zemo said.

»»-------------¤-------------««

Vanessa walked on the airport runway with Sam, Bucky, and Zemo. There was a private jet waiting for them. "So all this time you've been rich?" Sam asked Zemo. "I'm a Baron, Sam. My family was royalty until your friends destroyed my country. They approached a man waiting at the steps of the plane. Vanessa assumed that he was Zemo's butler. Zemo began speaking in Russian to the man. Sam looked at Vanessa in confusion. "He's saying 'hello old friend' 'welcome, gentlemen, madame'" Vanessa explained. Sam looked even more confused at her translation, "You speak Russian?" "Nat tended to ramble a lot in Russian, picked up a few things" Vanessa explained as if it was no big deal. "So everybody speaks Russian except me?" Sam asks.

Vanessa was seated in the seat in front of Zemo when Oeznik brought him out a glass of Champagne. "Apologies if that's a little warm, the fridge is out. But I will see if there is some good food in the galley" the man says to which Zemo responds to him in Sokovian. "You don't know what it's like to be locked in a cell. Oh. That's right. You do" Zemo says to Sam. "Why don't you tell us about where we're going?" Sam asked. "I'm sorry. I was just fascinated by this" Zemo said looking down at his book, "I don't know what to call it, but this part seems to be important. Who is Nakajima?" Bucky seemed to have an instantaneous reaction as he lunged towards Zemo and grabbed his throat. "If you touch that again, I'll kill you," he said.

Vanessa closed her eyes to clear her mind of the thought that she'd just had. "You found that so attractive didn't you?" Asked a voice behind Sam, "I came back at the exact time to see that". Vanessa looked up to find Nate standing there with a smirk on his face. Vanessa shook her head as to tell him she had no idea what he was talking about. "I mean I get it" he said, "Look at him. He's totally your type. I say go for it. Who knows he might even help you get over the bad taste that your neighbor left. You never even got to go on that date with him. He's back with his fiancé, did you know?" Vanessa nodded.

Meanwhile, Sam, Bucky, and Zemo were arguing about Marvin Gaye. "Everyone loves Marvin Gaye," said Sam, "Right Vanessa? Vanessa!" "Yes?" Vanessa said. "Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man," Sam says. "What about it?" Vanessa asks. "It's great right?" "Never heard it. Heard it's amazing though" Vanessa says. "She's worse than you," Sam tells Bucky. "I grew up on Spanish music. I didn't even listen to any English music until I was like thirteen, fourteen. And trust me it was not Marvin Gaye" Vanessa said. "Steve adored Marvin Gaye," Sam said.

Vanessa only shrugged her shoulders at the comment. She knew Steve and was thankful for everything he'd done for her, but she'd always been closer to Nat than him. "You must have really looked up to Steve. But I realized something when I met him. The danger with people like him, America's Super Soldiers, is that we put them on pedestals" Zemo says. Vanessa knew that what he was saying was correct. 

The problem with Super Soldiers is that people see them as Gods that can do no wrong and they often forget that they are still only human. "They become symbols. Icons. And then we start to forget about their flaws. From there, cities fly, innocent people die. Movements are formed, wars are fought. You remember that, right? As a young soldier sent to Germany to stop a mad icon. Do we want to live in a world full of people like the Red Skull? That is why we're going to Madripoor" Zemo explains.

"What's up with Madripoor? You guys talk about it like its Skull Island" Sam asks. "It's an island nation in the Indonesian archipelago. It was a pirate sanctuary back in the 1800s. It's kept its lawless ways" Bucky explains. "But we cannot exactly walk in as ourselves. James, you will have to become someone you claim is gone" Zemo says.