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INHUMAN THREAT

@tcnebra / tcnebra.tumblr.com

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As you people probably noticed, this blog hasn’t seen activity in a loooong time, but I’m full of muse again and I’m going to kickstart things around here, so bear with me while I update some stuff and call me on Discord or send me a message/ask if you wanna do something!

P.S: You can also find me over at @tclckinetic!

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Natasha walked by him into the room. “If the coffee is made, that would be lovely. if not, don’t trouble yourself.” She tilted her head, evaluating her potential asset. Fit. Taller than she thought. Military trained and someone who’d worked with the Winter Soldier well before either had made themselves known to Shield. Not a hint of puzzlement as to why she was here in his demeanor. That was promising.
The apartment was quite tidy for a young American man–but then he was a young man from a more disciplined generation than the current one, oh so spoiled one.
“Tell me, Zed, did you pick up any Russian from Bucky Barnes?”
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Zed nodded at her response about the coffee in agreement. It only made him a little more curious than he already was about why Natasha Romanoff would be standing at his door. And by the looks of it, that was no social call. He waited for her to sit down, or at least look like she was comfortable enough in the space. A discreet sign of reverence towards the spy.

"No, Ma'am. Just been operating domestic runs." The lad went to the TV and turned it a little louder before sitting on his favorite chair. Some noise to cover the conversation could be handy. That was a trick he did pick up from Barnes. "Is he in trouble?" was the question that first popped his mind. He's normally the kind to get in trouble, but Zed didn't recall a time where he actually got in a tricky situation that he couldn't undo by himself.

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Of late, there’d been a noticeable rise in espionage coming out of Russia and countries over which Russia had control. 
It might simply be business as usual–the efforts of a ‘strongman’ to control his own people and to widen existing crack between nations opposing his policies. But it might be something else, Sometimes it was difficult to tell the difference between political maneuvering and an increase in Hydra activity.
Natasha meant to find out which this was, and that meant a very stealthy foray into Russia. Had it been possible, she would have taken Barnes. Missions like this were exactly his skill-set, only without an assassination at the end, of course. There was little practical difference in going into highly secure locations to plant bugs, take pictures, or extract an asset, and going in unnoticed to kill a target or twelve.
Unfortunately, Barnes was unavailable, away on some personal mission in Europe, which left her needing to find backup somewhere else, from someone who would give the avengers and the government plausible deniability should things go south.
Zedekiah Brown fit the bill nicely. He had powers that would be most useful and was extremely motivated in the battle against Hydra. He also shared a quality that both she and the Winter Soldier shared–a history of actions that could be used to distance the United States, and all it’s organizations and heroes, from any possible fallout if they were identified or captured.
Natasha had only needed to know one thing from Barnes before approaching ‘Zed’–how stable was Zedekiah Brown now? 
She knew his history. The almost century long isolation in what was being called ‘the Negative Zone’, home of the ‘Zero Matter’ that had appeared in Peggy Cater’s earliest post war reports. 
She also knew about his past murderous rampages against Hydra. They weren’t so different than what Barnes had done, to be fair, but they’d had a lack of control that was potentially problematic.
The answer from Barnes had been that Zed was basically a good kid who’d come a long way in terms of working with others, following orders, and being able to resist killing everything Hydra that moved.
And so she was here.
When Zed opened the door, she said, “Hello, Zedekiah. Do you know who I am?”
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He skeptically opened the door after a few seconds. To his surprise it was Natasha Romanoff in front of him, asking if he knew who she was. He'd be dumb not to. Not only she's an Avenger, but she was crucial in revealing HYDRA's long con to the world and helping Cap during that hostile takeover.

"I, uh... I do. Hi." Zed opened the door and gave her space to come in. Thank God the condo was presentable, he thought. It would be awful to have an Avenger home with his dirty laundry on top of the TV or something like that. "Can I get you something, Ma'am? I've got coffee and... Crackers." His face was just as amicable as it was curious.

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"You're one of the good guys, from what I've seen on the news. At least by my book." For a second, Zed thought of playing coy and pretending he had no idea of what Ms. Romanoff was doing there, but he knew better than that. The internet says she used to be SHIELD, and he knows for a fact that she's an ally for Bucky. That can only mean that his vacation was coming to an end. And Zed was never the type to run away from a fight, was he?

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Not having to deal with Nazis and monsters for a while was a relief, even though Zed wouldn't ever say it out loud. He felt ashamed for liking his "vacation" so much. SHIELD was legitimate again, HYDRA went from a roaring lion in everyone's neck to a soft purring kitten with a few delusional nutjobs. He was finally calm enough to appreciate just how cool the future was once again. The soldier even settled in one city for almost three months now.

Nonetheless, there was always this feeling that this whole peaceful thing could crumble down like a house of cards at any second. Which is why, even in these times of alledged peace, he always had a gun under his pillow and his knife tucked into his boots. Beer in his hand, he watched on his crummy apartment as they announced between bouts of protest that the weird orange man had won the US presidency. His politics were never spot on, but the orange guy definitely seemed a hell of a lot different from president Roosevelt.

One more sip of his beverage and someone knocked at his door. Could be just the neighbor lady asking him if he could help with her kitchen sink. That was the case most of the time, but the paranoid man died of old age, as the saying goes. He warped into the bedroom to get his piece and then warped right back to his chair, tucking the firearm into the back of his pants before going to the door. 

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"Hold up, I'm not decent.", Zed said, while planted alongside the door. If they were not a friendly visitor, this door would probably be swiss cheese in about three seconds.

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Bucky took a sip of his coffee, a slight smile on his face, then said, “You must’ve been thinkin’ about that some, too, huh? I didn’t expect it to be that easy.”

That was good, because Zed’s need to kill everything that moved in Hydra bases, regardless of what it meant to the mission, was dangerous for both of them. Then there was the fact that Bucky was pretty sure that when he thought someone has reached a fucking lunatic level of brutality, they really, really had.

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His smile widened. “Nah, capes are stupid. That’d just give someone a handy way to grab you, and you’d probably get dog shit on the ends. You want to help people, though, I don’;t see anything wrong with that. Just don’t let your fans trail you back here. You aren’t a wanted man, but I am, and that’s not gonna change.

Bucky reached into a pocket and pulled out a flash drive, putting it on the table. “I wasn’t gonna show this to you, but you’re bein’ so fucking reasonable, I’m gonna share. You forget your good intentions when we get in there, though, and that’s it. I’m not sayin’ you can’t kill someone when ya gotta, just sayin’ I want to see some operational discipline.”

He took another sip of his coffee, looking at Zed over the top of the cup, then said, “It’s not so much a base as a prison. They’ve been snatching scientists up outta war zones and making it look like they died in the fighting. This is where they got ‘em stashed. 

“I want you to lay off pushing to get those powers back and get strong enough to fight like a regular joe. In the meantime, I’ll get us some fake passports. We’re goin’ to Mexico.”

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tcnebra

"Mexico?" He asked with the most enthusiasm he's ever displayed in a long, long while. Happy faces had no place in his face and his traces anymore, but the idea of going a little less - in the lack of a better word - murderous seemed enticing enough for him to give it a chance.

Operational discipline, he says. Zed could definitely work with that. For some people it can be embarrassing to admit, but when you get in a line of work where everything has do's and don'ts that are clearer than the broad day light, it takes sometime to get that stuff out of your head. And from the what they've talked recently, turns out that Bucky really was his commanding officer. At this point having any sort of COC felt as close as it gets to home.

Speaking of the military, it barely crossed Zed's mind that his actual, on record time with the US army wasn't exactly as glamorous and high-profile as Bucky's. Hell, it wasn't pretty at all. He took another sip of the coffee, making one loud and annoying suction sound with the straw before opening up a little more honestly to the other man. "I've never went into actual battle back then. At least not officially. I was on base maintenance duty.", which in the pacific meant you were a gardener in a slightly nicer uniform. 

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"How urgent is this Mexico business?"

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Zed was one fucking strange kid. 

Okay, he wasn’t really a kid, no more than any of the younger soldiers in the war. They stopped being kids after the first couple times they saw action, and Zed had seen more action than most, There was something about him that made Bucky think of him that way, though, and it wasn’t just his misleadingly youthful appearance.

Bucky walked into the darkened room, put down the bags he was carrying on a chair, and reached over to turn on the desk lamp on the small table near the open kitchen. “You can turn on the lights, ya know. I’m not such a fucking cheap bastard that you have to sit in the dark.”

Walking over to Zed, he handed him a take-out coffee of the kind he liked–frozen, chocolate and sweet as hell, with whipped cream on top. The kid tried to hide that he loved the damn things, but Zed was a fucking crappy spy.

He went back to the table to sit down with his own black coffee, and looked at Zed. “Y’know, when I go into a Hydra base, I’m there for a reason. Information, plans, whatever. 

“You, you’re just there to kill people, and not fast, either. You need a damn attitude adjustment, kid. I’m done helping you make yourself into something that’s just as fucking bad as they are, especially when it takes it outta ya the way it does.

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tcnebra

Trying to pretend like he wasn't enjoying that much his coffee milkshake with a weird italian name wasn't exactly working for Zed. It felt strange to like such things, to have small pleasures now and then. It felt like he wasn't deserving o anything like it. Not even a fancy coffee cup. "I don't need the lights, I still can see 10/10 in the dark."

He sipped it once more and amended, trying to avoid seeming rude. "But thanks anyway."

Adjusting his position on the chair, Zed conceded, Bucky had a solid point. A point that dawned silently on him when he was about to respond that his war on HYDRA was an extermination one. Luckily he realized how bad that would sound. Not that his option B of things to say was a lot better. "So what are you suggesting? That I start wearing a cape and go help the police stop bank robbers?"

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(@buckybarnesthewintersoldier​)

Zed was weak, there's no denying that. The guy could barely fight his way out of a wet paper bag, let alone keep up the fight against HYDRA. Or whatever was left of it. These last couple of months things had been so fast that it's been hard to find the bastards. Either they were simply getting even better at hiding, like the plague that they are, or he was indeed in the right track.

Right track or not, he'd have to cool his jets for the time being, since his powers decided to stop working. Just one of the many ways the time in the void damaged Zedekiah. To be perfectly honest, that wasn't the first time that his powers went away, but it was always unsettling because he was already an odd sighting, a pariah in the future. Without his powers he felt just about how a dog with no teeth would.

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"You got any news?", he asked somberly and with no surprise into what appeared to be clear dark and empty space; luckily not all of his powers were gone, so he could still see nearly perfectly in the darkness, knowing exactly who he was talking to.

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have you ever been baffled by your  FOLLOWER COUNT? when i went to browse my new followers and follow some blogs back, it came to my attention that i’d broken 500 followers at some point today  –  and it’s  astounding.  and i say that a lot on my blogs   ( i just went on a rant about how i was amazed that over 1k people follow my ward blog ),  but eugene is a different story. eugene parker, my lovely summer child exposed to way too much winter, is an  ORIGINAL CHARACTER  that has gained so much recognition and praise and love  ;  some people have even adopted him into their canon outlook. it amazes me because he’s a product of my creation who draws influence from things like  captain america: the first avenger   &&   band of brothers, because people get excited about my little history posts or get excited about his presence in general. because other writers of bother originals and canons have thought highly enough of me to put this little nugget on their dash, when he’s really nothing amazing   ( or at least, he’s no   superman  –  get it… cause henry ca– nevermind. ).   i could ramble on and on about this milestone, but i wont. instead, i’ll just end this blurb with a giant thank you to everyone who has followed and believed in this original since he popped up under the url, giiftcd.

☆❰❰❰❰  SPECIAL FOLKS !!

thank you for your ongoing support online in general, your constant plotting, your numerous threads, inspiration, and most importantly  :  your friendship.   @alleyspat, @soldiiered, @idlevalor, @identitymend, @thedogmatichalfdozen, @warburdened, @warkissed, @vaillants, @wintersspectre, @notacircusmonkey, @nonaziharlot, @wcnderbcy, @eightleggedman, @jdliebgott, @jxnkhead, @alwaystheagent, @cxpt, @comiitatus, @worstavenger, @toxichourglass, @gott–mit–uns, @analyticallyminded, @exhacktivist, @allamcrican, @blightcd, @viiduam, @guiltlxss, @missicnreport, @readyforyours, @weaponsdonotweep, @bearbasterd, @tcnebra, @widowesque, @brooklynroots, @clintbxrton, @bovndntiied, @ycstreb, @russkiyuragan, @toskavechnyy, @girlachilles, @hxrologium, @nctushka, @symboltothenation, @wwiisteve, @gammamade&&  so many others.
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