CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE, dora milaje

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THE GROUP HAD barely made it outside before they could hear John scolding them. Ivanna groaned internally and walked beside Sam as Bucky taunted John.

"Ah! How are you finding us now?"

"Come on man," Lemar spoke for his friend, "you think three avengers can walk around Latvia without drawing attention?"

"No more keeping us in the dark," John interjected before anyone could speak up. They all continued walking toward one another, "You can start by telling us why you broke him out of prison."

"He did that himself, technically," Bucky countered, the two parties coming to a stop in front of one another while John scoffed.

"This better be an unbelievable explain-"

Sam put his hand on John's chest as he approached Bucky, flailing his arms, "Hey. Take it easy before it gets weird."

"I know where Karli is," Zemo suddenly spoke up, nodding to reassure himself as much as everyone else.

"Let's go," Bucky muttered and began walking around John with Zemo following. John jumped in front of Zemo, stopping him.

"Well, where?"

"All we know is," Sam answered, "it's a memorial. So we're gonna intercept her there."

"That means civilians," Lemar pointed out as they began walking again. Ivanna paused and looked at him, "high risk of causalities."

"All right, good," John invited himself to walk with the group, "we'll move in fast. Take her by surprise."

"No," Sam shook his head, "I wanna talk to her alone."

"I'm not losing her again," John countered.

"Look, the person closest to her died. She's vulnerable," Sam explained, "If there's any time to reason with her, it's now."

John and Lemar ran in front of Bucky and Zemo, cutting them off and protesting the whole idea. Ivanna sighed and looked up at both men, "I think we're way past reasoning with her. Unless you forgot that she blew up a building with people still in it."

"Sam," Lemar was level and calm as he spoke up, and Ivanna slowly glanced at him, "you walk in there cold, she could kill you."

"And if I go in hot and the op goes wrong, more people will die,"

"You'll let him do this?" John asked Bucky and Ivanna. Ivanna lowered her eyes to the ground, "Are you gonna let your partner walk into a room with a Super Soldier alone?"

"He's dealt with worse," Ivanna defended.

"And he's not my partner," Bucky spoke up. Ivanna glared at him for being childish.

"I used to counsel soldiers dealing with trauma, okay?" Sam came up beside Ivanna, his sole focus on John, "this is right in my wheelhouse."

"I know," John admitted, "and I know those soldiers, which is why I know this is a bad idea."

Lemar began shaking his head, "Wait John. If he can talk her down, it might be worth a try."

John looked from his friend to the four standing in front of him. He scoffed, shaking his head and becoming torn on his decision. He looked at Zemo, "We'll deal with you later."

"I'm sure it will all come to an agreeable conclusion," Zemo spoke, holding his hands out with too much confidence. He pointed past John, "my associate is just up ahead."

They turned to see a young girl standing by a building, and Zemo greeted her. He paid her and she gestured for them to follow behind her. They kept close to the girl, John questioning what they were doing. They arrived and Zemo looked back at Sam.

"Karlis in there,"

Sam began walking and Ivanna watched after him as John quickly grabbed Zemo and pressed him against a wall. Zemo groaned and Ivanna eyed the interaction, Sam glanced back and she gave him a reassuring nod while John grabbed cuffs.

"You've got ten minutes?"

"Really?" Zemo asked with a tone of boredom.

"Then we're doing things my way," he ignored the Baron and continued cuffing him while Sam entered the building.

"Aggressive," Zemo remarked. John side-eyed Zemo, "But I get it"

"Do you ever shut up," Ivanna muttered and walked to lean against a wall? She watched the door Sam had disappeared into while John began pacing. Silence fell amongst the group waiting for Sam. Zemo walked around with what little room he had, and John eventually put on his helmet. Bucky glanced at Ivanna as he walked past her to a doorway, but she didn't acknowledge him.

John approached the doorway, but Bucky remained rigid. John turned back around and walked away, "Uh-Huh. No, no. No. This is a bad idea."

"It hasn't been ten minutes John, just sit tight," Bucky spoke.

"Don't do that," John walked toward Zemo, his pacing returning, "Don't patronize me."

"He knows what he's doing,"

Ivanna sighed and rested her head against the wall behind her, staring straight ahead at the wall across from her. John suddenly stopped moving, and she snapped her head over at his sudden change of thought.

"Bucky-"

"I'm going in," John's voice caused Bucky to glance at her as John interrupted her, approaching the door aggressively. Bucky pushed off the door and pressed his hand against John's chest, holding him back. Bucky pushed him backward and John fell silent, looking at the floor for a moment before slowly looking back up at Bucky, "This is all easy for you, isn't it? All that serum running through your veins. Barnes. Your partner needs backup in there. Do you want his blood on your hands?"

Bucky remained silent, looking John up and down. Ivanna watched the interaction from against the wall, waiting to see if she'd be needed. But then John walked past Bucky, and Ivanna realized it was because Bucky had stepped aside. She clenched her jaw as John walked in.

She and Bucky followed after, she could hear Sam's voice drawing near as John interrupted the interaction. Karli grew defensive and punched John, sending him flying while Ivanna pulled Lemar out of Karli's lane of fire. Everyone dispersed, Bucky running after Karli while Ivanna looked at Sam. His expression was grim, and he shook his head. The two ran out of the room, leaving John and Lemar to recover.

They eventually met with Bucky on a new floor, Bucky looking confused, "I lost her."

Sam panted and Ivanna looked around, Sam coming to a stop, "This place is a maze."

Bucky sighed and began walking in the direction Sam and Ivanna had come from. Ivanna followed after him, and Sam reluctantly joined as well. They ran until they found John in a new room. Ivanna's eyes fell to Zemo's body collapsed on the ground, and she noticed the shattered bottles on the ground.

"What'd we miss?" Sam questioned, and John looked between the three to Lemar behind him. Ivanna's brows raised, and she looked at Sam. He was confused when he met her gaze.

"It seems we missed a lot," she whispered, turning back to John on the floor below them.

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After they returned to the pad they'd been staying in, Ivanna gave Zemo something for his head. Sam pulled out his computer, and Ivanna stood at the bar across from him. She let him type out his message before she opened her mouth.

"Were you ever offered it?" Zemo's question interrupted her train of thought, and both she and Sam looked at him in confusion.

"What?" Sam questioned.

"The serum,"

"No," Sam shook his head, looking back at his laptop screen.

"If you had been, hypothetically, that is," Zemo hadn't moved from the couch since they'd arrived. A drink in his hand and a rag over his eyes, "would you have taken it?"

Ivanna and Sam met eyes, and he turned back to Zemo, "No."

"No hesitation," Zemo spoke softly, letting out a hum, "That's impressive."

He grunted and removed the rag from over his eyes, "Sam. You can't hold out hope for Karli. No matter what you saw in her. She's gone. And we cannot allow her and her acolytes to become yet another faction of gods amongst real people. Super Soldiers cannot be allowed to exist."

Ivanna watched Sam's face scrunch into confusion and disbelief as he turned back to Zemo, "Isn't that how gods talk?"

"Or egotistical maniacs," Ivanna muttered.

Zemo was silent, and that led Sam to continue, "And if that's how you feel, what about Bucky?"

There was no response once more and Sam accepted this, "Blood isn't always the solution."

The door opened and shut, grabbing Ivanna's attention as Bucky walked in. He began taking off his jacket, "Something's not right about Walker."

Ivanna's hand shot up in the air, "Ah yes, can the mind reader speak now?"

Bucky side-eyed her while getting a drink and Sam sighed but nodded his head.

"Zemo," she gestured to the man on the couch who was still wallowing in silence, "was the one destroying the serum, as we've collected. But he missed one."

Sam's face contorted into realization at Ivanna's words, "Walker has it?"

"Tried warning you," she shrugged.

"Shouldn't have given him the shield," Bucky sighed.

"I don't give it." Sam was growing defensive as he rose to his feet and glanced to where Bucky stood pouring a drink.

"Well, Steve didn't,"

Before Ivanna could speak the door was kicked open, John and Lemar walking in. Ivanna glanced at them quickly, "All right. That's it. Let's go. I'm now ordering you to turn him over."

Ivanna rounded the bar, Sam approaching the men while Zemo rose to his feet. Sam came to a stop in front of them, "Hey slow your roll. And let's be clear, shield or no shield, the only thing you're running in here is your mouth. Now, I had Karli and you overstepped. He's proven himself useful today. Now we're gonna need all hands on deck for whatever's coming next."

"How do you want the rest of this conversation to go, huh?" John questioned. Ivanna stood a few feet behind Sam, arms crossed as she let Zemo walk behind her as he crept across the room. Sam tilted his jaw toward John and the blonde man chuckled, "Yeah...should I put down the shield? Make it fair?"

Sam scoffed and John rest the shield against a pillar in the room. As he rose back to his full height, a spear flew through the room. Ivanna turned to see that the Dora had arrived. He glanced back toward Bucky, Ayo entering the room.

She spoke in Wakandan to Bucky, then switched to English, "Release him to us now."

"Hi. John Walker, Captain America," John approached Ayo and held his hand out. Ayo ignored him while Ivanna surveyed the Dora around them, John dropped his hand, "Well. Let's uh...put down the pointy sticks and we can talk this through, huh?"

"Hey John," Sam spoke up, holding back a grin. "Take it easy. You might wanna fight Bucky before you tangle with the Dora Milaje."

"The Dora Milaje don't have jurisdiction here," John turned back to Ayo.

"The Dora Milaje have jurisdiction wherever the Dora Milaje find themselves to be," Ayo hissed at him.

"Okay," John looked back at Lemar who stood beside Sam, he chuckled, "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot."

He dropped a hand on Ayo's shoulder. She reacted by pushing him off and then punching him in the face. Ayo kicked John backward into the spear that was stuck in a pillar. Ivanna took a few steps backward as she watched the fight break out around them.

She turned to see Zemo casually sipping a drink while Sam and Bucky walked toward her. Sam looked at Bucky.

"We should do something,"

"Looking strong, John," Bucky folded his arms and leaned forward. He watched the fight for a while longer before Sam said his name. Sighing, Bucky walked to Ayo and grabbed her spear, interfering with the fight. Grunts filled the room as Sam and Bucky tried to stop the Dora.

Everything came to a stop when Ayo deactivated Bucky's arm, letting it collapse to the ground. She walked to the room Zemo had snuck into and returned shortly later. The Dora left, and Sam began crawling off the ground.

"Did you know she could do that?"

Bucky didn't answer, leaning down to grab his arm. Ivanna and Sam both walked to Bucky, her watching in concern as he reattached his arm.

"They weren't even Super Soldiers," John's voice echoed out.

Ivanna, Sam, and Bucky walked past John to the bathroom Zemo had gone to. Sam peered in, "I can't believe he pulled an El-Chapo."

"I can," Bucky muttered. They looked in the room again then at each other before Bucky walked away, "Come on."

Ivanna stared into the bathroom a moment longer, then followed after the two men. She grabbed her jacket but didn't bother putting it on as she hugged herself and left the building with the both of them. The blonde dug in her jacket pocket, pulled her phone out, and dialed up the one person she didn't want to be forced to involve in this mess. Steve.