Reunited
My alarm snaps me out of my blissful sleep, grumbling I turn it off and stretch before getting out of bed. I slowly walk to the bathroom while opening Spotify and finding the playlist that I made for Zemo and I, the first song that comes on is ‘Daddy Cool’ I decide to keep it on. The soft sound of Boney M. fills the bathroom, I turn on the water, while waiting for it to warm up I softly sing along with the song, though I change the pronouns to suit mine.
Oh he believes in him
He loves his daddy
He’s crazy like a fool
What about it Daddy Cool
I strip out of my boxers and a plain white baggy t-shirt, I step into the now warmed up shower and my muscles slowly relax as the warm water hits them. I stand under the water unmoving for a few minutes before getting on with my shower. I step out of the shower, shivering as the cold air of the bathroom hits my wet body. I grab a towel and quickly dry myself off before grabbing the royal blue silk bathrobe that hangs behind the door, I dry my hair off properly and make my way out of the bathroom.
I lay out a black silk button up, black slacks, black socks, black boxers, and a black belt on the bed. I swiftly make my way to the vanity near the window, propping my left leg up on the chair in front of the vanity, I start to put lotion on my leg before moving to my right leg. I untie the robe and gently drape it across the back of the chair, squirting more lotion on my hands I rub it into my arms and hands. I stride across the room to the bed and start getting on dressed while singing along to ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder’. After looking over my appearance in the mirror I walk out of my bedroom and into the kitchen.
I get out an espresso cup and place it on the counter, turning to the espresso I realize that there is already a made espresso waiting to be drunk. Without thinking about it I pick up the already made espresso and start making it to my taste, once it’s made I turn and lean against the kitchen counter. I sip from my espresso while mumbling to myself,
“What have I told you about mumbling?”
“That it’s rude and I shouldn’t do it.” I respond, not registering the voice yet. After a minute I realize that someone else was in my apartment with me, I set my espresso on the counter and look for where the voice came from. I double back as I see a very familiar face leaning against the column near the bedroom door, he straightens himself and opens his arms towards me. I rush into Zemo’s arms, instantly I feel safe, warm, content. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Kätzchen.” Warmth bubbles in my stomach at the old nickname. Suddenly that warmth dissipates as I realize that he left me and he never gave me a reason, I step back from Zemo and smack him across the face as hard as I can. His eyes are full of anger until he looks into my eyes which are welling with tears.
“You bastard! You left for 8 years and now you just show up like nothing happened! Did you ever once think about me?” At this point my voice is cracking and the tears are freely streaming down my face. “I thought you had enough of our contract… had enough of me. You know, I waited for you. Every night I would sit up on the windowsill gazing down at the streets in hopes of seeing one of your cars pull up outside. But it never happened and slowly I started to lose hope that you would come back.” He gives me a sad look before sweeping me back into his arms, he quietly comforts me, pressing kisses to my temple while rubbing my back.
“I’m sorry mein kleiner Schmetterling. I never meant to leave you but then I got sent to prison, I wasn’t allowed to send mail or have any phone calls. I thought you would have seen the news and moved on.” My tears slowly stop, I look up at the Baron through my lashes.
“You went to prison?” He nods, I feel guilty about slapping him a few minutes ago. “I’m sorry for slapping you.” My voice is small, “And I’m sorry for thinking that you left me.” I place my hands flat against his chest and gently rub it. “I could never move on. Sure I thought about it but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, it felt like cheating.” I lean into his touch, silently hoping that he would never go away again.
“It’s okay, Schmetterling. You didn’t know what happened, it was a reasonable reaction.” I relax completely, listening to his heartbeat I smile at the comforting beat. He places one last kiss on forehead before turning our bodies to face something… or someone. “There are some people I would like you to meet.” I turn around in his grasp, he lets me move freely before wrapping his arms around my waist protectively. My eyes narrow as I look at the two men in front of me, they are whispering to each other but quickly stop when they notice my gaze. “Sam Wilson,” Zemo points to the black man, “and Bucky Barnes.” his finger moves to point at the white man.
“The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. I know who they are.” I manage to grit out, I turn to Zemo and whisper. “What are they doing in our apartment?”
“I know that you don’t like them for who they are associated with but they helped me out of prison. Just try to be pleasant and I’ll reward you later, got that?” I nod and begrudgingly turn around.
“Hi I’m Toby.” They each give me a curt nod while glancing between Zemo and I. Zemo leads me out of the kitchen and into my bedroom, he sits me on the bed before going back and closing the doors.
“Do you want to talk?”
“Why would you bring them here? First of all they are the people that destroyed your country, second you know that they know my brother. I don’t like having people that know that.. Rat near me.” Zemo squats in front of me, gently cupping the sides of my face.
“You have stated nothing but facts but I kind of said that I would help them deal with a small problem.”
“What problem?”
“There is another super soldier serum out there, James, Sam, and I are going after it. Our first step of the plan is to visit Selby and get some information out of her, we go from there.”
“Our?” He smiles sweetly which causes me to smile.
“You didn’t think I would leave you out of this. I wouldn’t let you miss an opportunity to go back to our old stomping ground. What do you say, want to work with daddy again?” My smile grows wider as I aggressively nod my head, he chuckles at my enthusiasm. “You are as eager as I remember.”
“You have no idea.”