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knucklescum · 2 years

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Mind Over Matter ch.2 - Helmut Zemo x reader

Pairing: Helmut Zemo x mutant!fem!reader

Word Count: 1170

Warnings: swearing, not much else lol

You never were a fan of airports. They’re always horrendously busy, no matter when or where you were going and everyone was always in such a rush.

Your journey had been beyond stressful already: your flight was delayed, there were luggage complications at one of the changes and there had been children screaming for the entire duration of your trip.

So, when your plane eventually landed in New York, you had no shame in dragging yourself to the bathroom, planting yourself onto the cool ceramic seat before holding your head in your hands in both relief and stress. Anything to get away from the sheer amount of people, to bring yourself back to reality.

A sharp voice pulls you from your thoughts, repeating your name several times until you finally look up from the floor.

“Miss, I’m here on behalf of Mr. Stark.” he states. “Are you ready to leave?”

Quickly, you collect yourself, pulling yourself up from the toilet seat and adjusting your backpack before opening the door, pulling your suitcase along as you step out of the stall.

A meek smile forms on your face as the man takes your suitcase, although you can’t help but notice that he’s dressed exactly like your stereotypical agent-super-spy macho guy: dark, black shades, black suit and gloves and ever so slightly grown out soldier haircut.

“How did you find me?” you ask as he makes his way towards the exit of the bathroom, gesturing for you to follow.

“You’re here to work for Mr. Stark, are you not?” he says, his voice wavering as though he was unsure. “I was sent to collect you.”

“No, no,” you laugh. “I know that! I meant, you know, how did you know I was in the bathroom?”

“You’ll come to learn that we have eyes everywhere, Miss. Including here.” he says, pulling the door open and holding it in place for you to leave.

“Creepy.”

------------------

The journey from the airport to the compound was quick, much quicker than you’d expected. Although, in fairness, you hadn’t expected to be picked up in a helicopter.

You had attempted to make small talk in the chopper, but the agent had very quickly turned his headset off after your third question.

With only the sound of the vehicle whirring, you were left to your thoughts - or rather, the agent’s thoughts.

Why am I always put on fucking taxi service? I wish they’d give me a real job.

Of course, you hadn’t meant to read his mind. You had never been able to fully control this power, this mutation. Sure, you can intentionally read someone’s thoughts, send thoughts to people, have in depth conversations solely through your mind, but it would sometimes take on its own power. It would frequently decide to enter someone’s mind on its own accord, steal thoughts from people with whom you had no interest in stealing from. You guessed that that was something you needed to work on.

Your mutation had one upside, though - it was extremely convenient for your line of work. At this point, you’d been every kind of therapist under the sun. You had always wanted to choose this career path, although part of you does occasionally wonder if you would have chosen to study and specialise in psychology if you couldn’t literally read minds.

Not only could you read minds; you could also control them. You could change someone’s mood with one thought, force them to do things when you catch their eye. You hadn’t delved too deep into this side of your powers, scared to take advantage of people for your own benefit. You had always expressed a distinct lack of interest in ever utilising these powers, though you had a feeling that Tony Stark didn’t hire you just for your psychology skills.

I hope I get to do something actually worthwhile after this.

The agent’s thoughts ring through your head as the helicopter begins to slowly descend onto the large platform.

You hear a quick, quiet buzz through your headset before the agent begins to speak.

“We’re here, Miss.” he says, pressing a million and one various buttons on the dashboard before the helicopter is finally silent. “I’ll escort you to the lobby, Stark will meet with you there.”

“Sounds good to me,” you nod, unclipping your seatbelt as the man quickly opens the door for you.

He hurries you out, taking hold of your luggage before heading towards the building.

-------------------------

You’ve barely even made it through the entrance when you hear a booming voice beckoning your name. Looking up, you see the man who had hired you in the first place. His demeanour, his facial expression - hell, his facial hair - this was undoubtedly Tony Stark himself.

“Mr Stark! It’s a pleasure,” you exclaim, shaking his hand with a smile.

“Trust me,” he starts, nodding his head. “The pleasure is all mine.”

It doesn’t take Tony long to get lost in conversation (mostly with himself - you could hardly get a word in) as he gives you the grand tour of the compound.

“I know you’ve only just got here, but I really do need to discuss something with you,” he says, coming to a stop and turning to face you. “Urgently.”

You nod before following him into one of the countless offices in the building, watching as he settles himself into one of the large chairs before promptly doing the same.

“So,” he starts. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the whole Avengers breaking up thing.”

“Yeah, I mean,” you stutter, rubbing the back of your hand with your thumb. “It was kind of world wide news.”

He nods, looking around the room as though he was unsure whether he should be telling you any of this.

“Right, right. Well, we’ve managed to get a couple of the guys back, as well as one extra special guest in particular.” A breathy laugh escapes his lips as he pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket, unfolding it before sliding it across the table to you.

Unsure, you pull the paper closer, shocked only to find a single, familiar name written on it.

“He’s going to be your patient while you’re here. Well,” he pauses. “One of your patients. He’s your primary focus, I’m sure you can understand why.”

Slowly, you shake your head in confusion. What is he doing here?

“Cut the bullshit, (y/n). We know about your time in Sokovia.”

He leans forward, a small, uneasy smile on his face. “I know that you know Helmut Zemo.”

“I- I’m sorry,” you breathe. “This isn’t what I expected at all. Not that it’s an issue!” you stop yourself.

“Good,” Tony leans back again in relief. “You’re going to fix him.”

“Fix him?” you repeat. “Like a dog?”

Tony lets out a bitter laugh before getting up from his chair, gesturing for you to do the same.

“Come on, you must be exhausted,” he says, pulling open the door. “Let me show you to your room.”

#helmut zemo #zemo #helmut zemo x reader #cacw #cacw helmut zemo #cacw helmut #cacw zemo #zemo x reader #cacw helmut zemo x reader #cacw zemo x reader #fatws #fatws zemo #fatws helmut zemo #fatws helmut zemo x reader #baron zemo #baron helmut zemo #baron zemo x reader #mutant reader #mind reading yn

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notafunkiller · 5 months

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Bucky Barnes is the best super soldier

How it was subtly emphasized in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier:

He always holds back

With the Flag Smashers and even with John Walker. We could see the difference in the last 3 episodes. Sebastian Stan did an incredible job making it clear in a subtle way.

I want to mention that famous "Stay there" scene, and how it was visible Bucky was not punching as hard as he can in the fight with John.)

This is the thing about Bucky, he isn't after the kill, he just does his part. He doesn't try to show off his skills or that he is a good guy. He doesn't try to play the victim role, either. In the scene where Zemo fake-activates the Winter Soldier in Madripoor, he just makes a point. He's obviously not even trying hard.

If he wanted those in the club dead, they would be. But his self control was wow. Sebastian acted so well, his exes said everything.

*And to be honest, even when he was TWS, he could have killed everyone, but he didn't. He could have killed all of the Avengers in Civil War is they were his mission, but they weren't. This is how Natasha survived when she met him, too. It depended on what kind of mission he had (if he wasn't allowed to be seen, then the witnesses would die too, but otherwise? He didn't bother).

2. His skills

People tend to forget how smart and good at making strategies Bucky is. He's been fighting (even though he hates fighting and never wanted to be in the army) for years before he was even captured by Hydra. And this is the reason why government still want him, after all. They can use his strategies as a leader (*cough* Thunderbolts *cough*).

In the last episodes of TFATWS, we could see how he outsmarted everyone. Karli was so terrified of him.

3. Karli Morgenthau

And talking about Karli, the phone call was interesting:

She asked him if he's not tired of fighting for the wrong side, and then told him she's fighting for something bigger than herself.

"And with all the bodies you've collected, have you ever been able to say the same?"

The first thing I wanna point out is how everyone talks about the deaths Bucky caused when he was controlled by Hydra, but everyone ignores the fact that all the Avengers killed far more, but since we consider them the good side, we just don't care.

Clint, Tony, Steve, Wanda etc. They all cause(d) far more deaths than "two dozen" (known assassinations - to quote Natasha), and neither was controlled. The double standards are something else, especially for Clint. (One of the reasons why Tony was on the other side in CW was because of his guilt, after all.)

The second point is how Bucky's answer says a lot more than we might realize at first:

"You don't think I ever fought for something bigger than myself? That's all I ever tried to do, and I failed twice."

Even as TWS, Bucky had to be convinced he is on the right side, that what they do is to save the world, to give "the world the freedom it deserves".

Even brainwashed and put to sleep all the time, he had to be lied to. Bucky as TWS was a victim too. He is not a victim only because he didn't have memories or control, but also because they lied to him and used him as a toy. That milk scene is so loud. (And I am gonna talk about it in a different post). He had no rights, no choices. He was used to being tortured.

[And I wish they explored it more. We deserved and deserve a WS film - maybe with him in Romania getting back his memories, writing in his journal etc.]

"You think your cause justifies all this death, but in the end, the nightmares won't go away. You're gonna remember all the ones you killed. Trust me. Don't do this. Don't go down this path."

Despite being on opposite sides, Bucky still said this to Karli, trying to help her, to make her see the big picture, sharing how he felt and feels.

He is on "the right side". He is a hero, and Bucky being thanked by that man for saving everyone's life was touching.

4. Baron Zemo

You can see how smart, strong, and rational Bucky is when he decides to break Zemo out of jail (his plan was amazing too), risking so much (his relationship with Wakanda people and his own freedom) to get his help for the mess. He puts the cause above his own (huge) trauma. And this makes that moment in Madripoor even more disgusting (he is treated as an object, as a toy):

Zemo: Tell us what you know about the super-soldier serum. And I give you him, along with the code words to control him, of course. He will do anything you want.

The way he keeps his composure, reacts and manages the situation... absolutely incredible!

This conversation also says a lot:

Zemo: The desire to become a superhuman cannot be separated from supremacist ideals. Anyone with that serum is inherently on that path.

Bucky: Maybe you're wrong, Zemo. The serum never corrupted Steve.

Zemo: Touché. But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?

Bucky positions himself below Steve, who's considered a good hero, a good person... like no other. But Steve never had to go through what Bucky did: from being kidnapped like that, to being tested on, to falling off the train, to being tortured, and used, and brainwashed for decades, and put to sleep when he was not needed and having n "keepers".

Also, interesting how all Steve wanted was to fight (for a good cause, but still)... and fighting still means violence, meanwhile Bucky never wanted to fight, not even before becoming TWS, in the army (and yet he is still great at fighting. And he is deadly, even when he holds back.). All he wanted was peace.

Despite not getting the "perfect serum", despite being brainwashed, put to sleep, and forced to fight for decades, he is still himself. He never gave in to the dark side for real. He fought in his own way. The first thing he did when he woke up was to choke the Hydra guy with a whole new arm!

Bucky is so underrated: from his intelligence and fighting skills, to how human he is. Being flawed, keeping his sassiness and charm from the 40s, but getting more mature and carrying his past on his shoulders... he's so relatable and real. And every day, he shows Zemo he is wrong.

The show he makes in his final scene with Zemo is absolutely fantastic. He doesn't just prove the point he isn't defined by the serum and Hydra (AND not even by Steve, thanks to Sam. His speech made him realize the important thing about himself: that he decides who he is, not others - even those who know him before becoming TWS- "And this might be a surprise, but it doesn't matter what Steve thought. You gotta stop looking to other people to tell you who you are." parallel to "Steve believed in you. He trusted you. He gave you that shield for a reason. That shield, that is… that is everything he stood for. That is his legacy. He gave you that shield, and you threw it away like it was nothing. [...] So maybe he was wrong about you. And if he was wrong about you, then he was wrong about me."), but also that he is superior.

When Zemo tells him that he decided to let him alive (probably so he can kill Karli) and basically calls him a killing machine: "programmed to kill", Bucky plays the role, lets Zemo talk him into killing Karli, and then Bucky watches him waiting for his own death.

[Also, Bucky's line: Imagine my relief is hilarious.]

The acting was incredible: the shock on Zemo's face and the amusement and somehow relief on Bucky's after he pulls the trigger and lets the bullets fall... He proved him he's THE standard of the super soldier. Because despite everything he went through, he is the best.

Zemo telling him to cross his name off felt like a fresh start (+ telling Nakajima the truth).

5. John Walker

John, on the other hand, is lucky Bucky is an understanding person. He gets what is like... the pressure, the environment, the loss, and even tries to help.

Bucky: Don't go down that road. Believe me, it doesn't end well.

John: I'm not like you!

Of course he is not like Bucky, because Bucky has control. He is not killing to get revenge in a cynical way.

"That serum doesn't exactly have a great track record."

John kept judging Bucky every time they spoke, somehow placing himself above this "broken" man.

"This is all really easy for you, isn't it? All that serum runnin' through your veins. Barnes, your partner needs backup in there. Do you really want his blood on your hands?"

This is so wrong on every single level, especially because Bucky didn't choose to take the serum, and he always had his friends' back. He's loyal and ready to sacrifice himself.

The "funny" part about this is John ending up taking the last super soldier serum vial. All the judgement, the disgust, the patronizing tone, just to do that. Plus, of course, to kill someone with the shield.

(John proves Zemo's point about super soldiers, and Bucky does the opposite.)

And what is it easy for Bucky anyway?

He's under government conditions (so CACW coded), he has a vibranium arm that I bet the government would try to take after he dies (HOPEFULLY WHEN HE'S 200 YEARS OLD IN HIS BED, as Sebastian wants too) if he isn't in Wakanda, he is haunted by nightmares (which also can mean he is still Hydra's TWS in another universe as we found out from Strange), and he has to learn how to live for real. He's smart, charismatic, has values and principles, and he's incredible.

We need to see his version of TWS going after everyone Hydra helped. TWS is him, a part of him, and doing that on his terms, having control over it would help him heal.

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daniel-bruehl · 4 months

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"What do you want?"

Happy Mission Report Day! ✨

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eggbreadboi · 11 months

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Loss.

bonus sketch >:3

#zemo is such a profoundly sad man….i love him #baron zemo #helmut zemo #i am so sorry that this is my tag for him;#former father current pain in the ass #cacw #fatws #fatws spoilers #sokovia #the sokovia monument #grief #egg’s art #zemo fanart #мой маленький мяу мяу #Гельмут Земо

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six-demon-bag · 1 year

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#zemoposting #helmut zemo #baron helmut zemo #mcu textpost #tfatws #sixdemon textpost #the falcon and the winter soldier #bucky barnes #winterbaron #captain america civil war #cacw

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tinymintywolf · 1 year

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12.16.91

#baron zemo #helmut zemo #captain america civil war #cacw #marvel #an excuse to draw zemo again?? perhaps.

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thewintersoldier · 1 year

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CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016) - dir. Joe & Anthony Russo

#**#*tb #*helmut zemo #*bucky barnes #*cacw #*marvel #marveledit #buckybarnesedit #userashe #usermalin #usertammy #usersavana #usercroft #uservalentina #userpavlova #userzo #userlindir #useraurore #flashing gif

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bucky-bucky-bucky-bucky · 1 year

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We all know what happened 31 years ago today

“I remember all of them…”

#sebastian stan #seb stan #sebastianstan #sebstan #sexy seabass #in sebastian we stan #sexy sea bass #bucky barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #james bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #baron zemo #mcu zemo #zemo #captain america: civil war #cacw #the winter soldier

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bruehl · 2 years

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Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo Captain America: Civil War (2016)

#zemo #baron zemo #helmut zemo #cacw #captain america civil war #marveledit #cacwedit #daniel brühl #daniel bruhl #*#this is an unoriginal remake of a set I made a year ago #I must have a thing for his shirt in this scene lol #userpng #userrutledge #usertammy #userlindir

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j-wilson-md · 2 years

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how much does survival hurt?

#helmut zemo #zemo #baron zemo #tfatws #cacw #mcu #quotes #my edit #emo abt zemo again

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mgenchanted · 3 days

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Babies

#james buchanan barnes #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky banres #james bucky barnes #zemo x bucky #bucky x zemo #bucky barnes #tfatws zemo #cacw zemo #mcu zemo #baron helmut zemo #zemo #sugar daddy zemo #helmut zemo #baron zemo

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knucklescum · 2 years

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Mind Over Matter ch.1 - Helmut Zemo x reader

Pairing: Helmut Zemo x mutant!fem!reader

Word Count: 741

Warnings: None! (other than my attempt to salvage a fic i started when i was 14)

Twelve Years Earlier

Maybe university wasn’t for you. You were two years into your degree, yet you felt as though you’d only been there for a brief amount of time - although perhaps your attendance (or lack thereof) was a good indication of why that may be.

By some miracle, though, you had been accepted onto your course’s year of study abroad. You could have picked anywhere: Japan, Canada, France!

You chose Sokovia.

To this day, you weren't entirely sure why you had picked Sokovia specifically - it was a shitty little country with nothing too special about it, but perhaps it was its absolute nothingness that brought you there. You didn't have to be anything special in that sort of place, just simply exist.

The campus was actually quite a pretty place, with beautifully detailed architecture and a wonderfully weird combination of young people all trying to find their footing in society. You couldn't help but get distracted by the constant quiet excitement on the campus, so much so that you were headed in the completely wrong direction of your lecture hall.

In hindsight, perhaps missing your first lecture at a new university, in a new country, just to admire the campus was an incredibly stupid thing to do. But maybe it was fate, too. Life is filled with weird signs from the universe that you never quite realise until the moment has long passed; this was definitely one of those moments, whether you accepted it or not.

As you head mindlessly down one of the many narrow pathways that weaved between the campus buildings, looking up at the delicately detailed archways and hidden little gargoyle figures, you fail to notice an embarrassingly large, loose cobble. Before you could even begin to register what was happening you were on the floor, a stinging graze on your elbow and a bruise already forming on your knee.

“That’s a compensation claim,” you hear a Sokovian, male voice chuckle from a metre away.

You look up to see a dark haired, friendly faced man holding his hand out in an attempt to help you up.

“I was really hoping no-one saw that,” you laugh, your voice laced with embarrassment as you take hold of his hand, pulling yourself back on to your feet.

Letting go of his hand, you finally made eye contact with the man, finding him to be maybe two or three years your senior.

You couldn’t lie - he was gorgeous. Deep, brown eyes with a perfectly round yet defined face and a laughing smile directed at you.

“There’s plenty of guys around here, you know. You didn’t need to throw yourself to the ground to get their attention,” he laughs, nudging your side with his as the two of you begin to walk, only for him to stop when he notices that he’s nearly knocked you onto the ground once again.

“Hey!” you exclaim, turning to face him in feigned offence. “How do I know that you didn’t pull that stone out yourself to get my attention?”

“You got me!” he says, his hands up in surrender. “I just love pulling pathways apart with my bare hands to get girls’ attention.”

“You Sokovians have some weird hobbies.” you laugh, the man narrowing his eyes at you before shaking his head in defeat.

The two of you continue to walk, a comfortable silence between you.

“Kaffee?”

His voice catches you by surprise once again, tilting your head for him to continue.

“I kind of feel like I owe you for, you know, laughing at you,” he says, a faint redness creeping onto his cheeks. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to, natürlich!”

“I would love to!” you exclaim, almost overly excited to actually be spending some time with a real life human. “Lead the way.”

------------------------------

On your way to the cafe, you’d been worried that you’d struggle with keeping the conversation going, that your social skills may had worsened significantly over the summer, but you and this mystery man completely clicked. The two of you were so comfortable together, it felt as though you had known each other for years, as if you were childhood friends.

“I probably should have asked you this before,” you say, your hands wrapped around the warmth of your mug. “But, what’s your name?”

“I’m Helmut Zemo,” he states, nodding his head towards you. “Most people just call me Zemo though.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Helmut.”

You take another sip from your mug, eyes locked with Helmut’s as you do so before you’re suddenly startled -

She completely missed her lecture.

Part 2

#helmut zemo #zemo #helmut zemo x reader #zemo x reader #cacw #cacw helmut zemo #cacw zemo #fatws #fatws helmut zemo #fatws zemo #fatws helmut zemo x reader #mutant reader #mind reading teehee #yes i'm rewriting one of my ancient texts but starting with the last chapter #what are you gonna do about it #seriously why did i abandon this fic on wattpad with a FLASHBACK?!?!?!#i dumb

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