Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

A high-pitched ringing tugged at his struggling consciousness. His head was pounding, and he could barely keep hold of a thought before it was obliterated by the pain.

What happened?

Digging through his memory for answers yielded a dizzying collection of fragmented moments. He’d been in the field with James and Sam, and he had waited until a fight broke out to slip away. What for, he didn’t know. He remembered throwing one last look over his shoulder when James’ pheromones had spiked with the onslaught of adrenaline. After that, it went dark. James had such a lovely scent. It was quite sweet for an alpha – not unlike a rich blackberry tea. Zemo knew it was partially just blind omega instinct driving that opinion, but his preference for James’ scent to any other alpha was about more than just a reflexive urge to seek strength. Though, he supposes the distinction didn’t matter; it was all weakness at the end of the day.

Right now, reduced to a hurt and disoriented mess; Zemo didn’t care where the need came from. He just wanted to curl up in that damned scent until everything stopped fucking spinning. He pried his leaden eyelids open, only to wince as bright lights stabbed into his eyes. It was like an ice pick driving into his brain, and Zemo turned his head in a futile attempt to get away from it. All signs pointed to a gnarly concussion. Terrific.

Metal clattered against metal when Zemo moved to run his hand over his face. His breath caught, and he tried again, tugging fiercely against the cuff locked tight around his wrist. Trying his other hand yielded the same results, as did shifting his legs. Biting cold started from the tips of his fingers and spread down his arms, toward his core. Zemo’s already muddled thoughts slowed to a crawl, while his pulse beat against his neck, one slow punch at a time. A droplet of sweat rolled down his temple, and with it came a sickening hint of his unhindered omega scent. The scent blockers were starting to wear off. He must have been here for hours, knocked out cold. Had the location been anywhere he stood a chance of escaping from, surely James would have found him by now.

Or perhaps not. With his blockers and suppressants, Zemo was virtually scentless. Whatever trail he might have left behind was non-existent, which meant the most reliable way of tracking him down was null and void. The option to abstain from them while in the field had been completely available, but Zemo had not taken it. The thought of James, or even Sam, having that kind of insight into who and what he was, overwhelmed him with discomfort. It was too much. What little control he had left in life hinged on this last piece of anonymity, so he had stayed on them, nauseating side effects be damned. Which was to say, he had done the kidnapper’s job for them and done it wonderfully.

A smile tugged at the corners of his cracked lips. It would seem penance had finally come to claim its dues.

Despite the pain lancing through his skull, he forced himself to look around his newest prison. It was windowless, because of course it was. The walls were bare concrete, as was the floor. It resembled a sort of stripped basement, modified to be very difficult to escape from. The only door looked like the ones used for panic rooms – solid steel.

Another spike of his scent reached his nose, now tainted with the smell of the bitter panic of an animal realizing it was trapped. He tipped his head back as far as it could go and strained his eyes to see what he was chained to. There was an iron pole secured to the wall, with two hooks on either end keeping Zemo from sliding the cuffs along the length of it. He gave another hard tug, watching desperately for any sign of weakness in the metal.

Nothing.

“Calm down.” he whispered to himself, like that would somehow ease the snare tightening around his heart. Forcing himself to take a deep breath in through his nose to quell the hyperventilation he was on the cusp of succumbing to; he rattled his restraints again - and again and again. The sting of metal digging into his wrists and sawing through the skin was ignored as he watched for anything he could use. Anything at all. Finally, he found it. The bolt by his right hand shook slightly, having loosened from the continued strain. Zemo zeroed in on it and saw badly covered cracks all around where the metal met the wall, like someone had tried to repair it. Like he wasn’t the first person who had been held captive here.

With his concussion forgotten and his senses so wildly alert it was almost painful; Zemo caught a barely-there hint of bleach in the air. Oh, he’d really done well for himself this time, hadn’t he? Suddenly, the sound of the door latch rattling shattered the crushing silence. Zemo yanked harder at his restraints, his eyes flitting from the shimmying bolt and to the door, now slowly opening. It was no use. He couldn’t get it loose fast enough, and if his captor realized what he was aiming for, his one slim chance at walking out of this place was shot dead. He fell still, letting his head loll against the bare mattress he was laying on, and forced his eyes to drift out of focus. His own grating scent of fresh pine was everywhere, especially now that adrenaline was coursing through him. Each breath felt like a thick cloying sap was sticking to the roof of his mouth and oozing down his throat.

Play along, he told himself. Just long enough to get this captor to let their guard down, long enough for him to get free and – God knows what… He had no idea what the hell he would do against an unknown number of hostiles, alone and isolated and at every possible disadvantage. A hysteria-fueled laugh threatened to force its way out of him as a shadow fell across the floor, and the stench of alpha encroached into the room. Play along, Zemo, he firmly reminded himself.

“Have you tired yourself out?” Asked a gravelly, unfamiliar voice. Zemo didn’t answer, only watched the man from the corner of his eyes. He was tall and stocky, there was no doubt that he had dozens of pounds of muscle in his favor. The man crouched down right by Zemo’s head, and that scent (fuck, it was strong, was he in pre-rut?) flooded his already overwrought brain. A tremble rippled through his body, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut in an attempt to keep his composure. Pine stuffed his nose like diseased mucus as his treacherous, hormonally abused body reacted all on its own.

“I figured you’d be easy. The repressed ones always are.” The man said, almost sweetly. When Zemo continued his silence, he huffed. “What, don’t you have anything to say? I was told you were a mouthy bitch.”

Zemo felt so hot, and he squirmed, trying in vain to flee from the sensation of his shirt sticking to his back. Swallowing thickly, he said; “My reputation precedes me.” A harsh grip locked into his hair and yanked his head up, right into an oppressive fog of gasoline-tinged alpha musk. A whimper clawed up his throat. It was good, disgustingly so, and he needed – he needed to touch…

No! Zemo caught his breath, tried to slow it down. This wasn’t right. Even coming off his blockers shouldn’t be this intense, there must be something else. Maybe he had been drugged, or…

“Your brain’s working a hundred miles a minute trying to figure this out.” His captor mused with a growing darkness in his pale, blue eyes. He loosened his hold, smoothing his hand down the side of Zemo’s face. It was a violent sensation. “This is all you, baby. I didn’t need to help out at all.” Metal shrieked and rattled as he tried in vain to yank himself away from the branding touch. Weak, his deteriorating mind shouted. Weak and filthy!

With a soft click of his tongue, his captor grabbed Zemo’s face in a bruising grip. The sting of fingernails breaking skin had tears prickling in the corners of his eyes, all the while pulses of unwanted, grotesque heat cascaded down his spine.

“Oh, you need it bad.” Zemo’s face was turned this way and that while every inch of him was scrutinized. “How long has it been? Almost a decade? Unless someone claimed you in prison, of course.”

Zemo’s breath caught with each shaky inhale, never reaching deep enough into his lungs to bring oxygen to his reeling mind. Something wild was bubbling in his head, stealing all his rationale away. There was only terror. Terror and absolute helplessness. The man - HYDRA, by the look of his signet ring, smiled like he found it all to be very sweet. The soft expression was immediately contradicted by the heavy turn his scent took, dipping into the burnt notes of unmistakable arousal. Zemo’s expression twisted into a snarling smile. “No wonder you have to hit people from behind like a coward. You reek.”

It was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it even before the words tumbled out of him. But he couldn’t stop it any more than he could stop the slap that violently jerked his head to the side. Zemo cried out, feeling a gush of something hot slide down his cheek from where his captor’s ring had split his skin open.

“There you are.” The mattress dipped as the man climbed on, his body-heat and scent pressing down on Zemo until he felt like he was suffocating. Burning gasoline mixed with pine to the point where every inch of his skin felt like it was bubbling and melting away, while his insides were rendered heavy and useless by the thick liquid that embalmed him. It was a battle of who had the stronger urge to kill him. This man, or himself. Zemo fought fruitlessly, blindly, his legs kicking out and his arms pulling until blood dripped down his wrists like water from a leaking faucet. A heavy hand pressed down on his chest, shoving him harder against the mattress. “Settle down! You’re pretty, it’d be a damn shame to ruin you.” A smothering rush of alpha scent accompanied the commanding pitch in his voice. It had Zemo’s instincts screaming for him to submit, to go limp and tip his head back to display the length of his neck. Resisting it was like dragging himself across a million tiny shards of glass, and he hated it. He hated his body for boiling with need, he hated himself for being too weak to stop it. He hated it!

The building pressure of a scream sat like a rock in his throat while he clenched his teeth together and continued his struggle. “I apologize for making my murder so unsightly!” he spat, in a voice so contorted he barely recognized it. Groping hands ran up and down his body, predatory eyes scanned over every exposed inch. Zemo twisted his torso in an attempt to get away, but he was yanked back into place by hands that would undoubtedly bruise him. “You’re adorable.” His captor purred, his breath fanning over Zemo’s flushed face. “But your body doesn’t lie, omega.”

A ragged gasp tore out of him when his head was wrenched to the side and the man pressed his nose and lips right over his scent gland. He inhaled deeply, and a shudder passed through his burly shoulders. “You want me. You’re begging for it.”

No. No, no, no. He didn’t want this. “Stop!” he said to deaf ears. Hands continued to pry; his body continued to rebel against him. Zemo was losing himself in an abyss of instinct. His thoughts were bleeding together, his vision was blurring behind a veil of tears. Everything hurt, and he– Where was James? He wanted James.

His body had started to relent without his input as he spiraled further and further down. Zemo was on the precipice of oblivion when something, a lightning strike of panic that rivaled the worst day of his life, ripped him back to his senses. Teeth, scraping over the sensitive skin of his scent gland. If the skin broke, he was bound. Forever. Only one person had ever come that close, and she wasn’t there to protect him anymore.

The bolts in the wall gave way.

They met eyes. One frozen second passed between them, before Zemo blinked. He exploded into action. His captor was slow to react as his lust-drunk brain reeled at the sudden change of pace. Zemo’s grip on the pole was slick with blood, but it didn’t matter. An ancient animal rage was alive like a howling chorus in his brain, and with every last drop of strength he could summon, he swung. Metal descended in a violent arch and connected with the man’s skull. A wet crack echoed in the barren room as he was flung onto the floor from the impact. For a moment the man looked like he might get right back up again, but the illusion shattered when blood spurted from a large indent just above his temple. In the space between seconds, a third of his face was completely covered in blood. Zemo’s heart stuttered, the sight of crimson shocking him back into action. He scrambled for the keys hanging out of the man’s jacket pocket and rushed to undo the cuffs on his ankles. His hands shook violently, and he could barely keep hold of the tiny key with how slick his fingers were, but he managed.

And just in time.

A guttural groan sounded from the floor. Zemo grabbed hold of the pole still shackled to him and scrambled off the bed just as the bloody hands of an enraged alpha shot out to grab him. His DNA. Fuck, Zemo needed to get his DNA everywhere, to increase the chance of this being discovered. Maybe his captor wouldn’t find it all and James would know he did not go willingly. Maybe he could be avenged after his death. Wasn’t that a hopelessly naive thought. Unfortunately for him, it was all he had.

Zemo rubbed furiously at his scent gland with the back of his hand as he ran – or rather, stumbled – toward the door. He smeared his blood and scent against the wall and let droplets of blood splatter in every direction. He pulled at his hair until the strands sailed away into the room.

I was here. I was here. I was here!

The stench of alpha coming closer cut through his tunnel vision, and he swung blindly with the pole. He hit something soft and was rewarded with a pained shout, before he made his last mad dash for the door. He crashed against it and pulled. It would not budge. Panic sizzled in his head as the fleeting little insect of hope died a lonely death in his chest. A hoarse laugh sounded behind him. Zemo whipped around with the pole held in front of himself like a very pitiful shield. “You think I’d leave the fucking door unlocked, you little bitch?” The man hardly looked human anymore. Half his face was red, with his hair on that side clumped together and sticking to his scalp. He had another gash in his arm, marked by the steadily growing stain on his jacket.

“Yes,” Zemo said, breathlessly, “I wouldn’t dare underestimate your stupidity.”

There was no way out. Zemo was going to die here, but he could at the very least make sure he didn’t go down alone. He had nothing to live for anyhow – whatever insanity he had conjured up about himself and James was a pipe dream. The world wouldn’t hurt from his loss, but this man would suffer for cutting Zemo’s time short. A grin spread across his face while his hands tingled with the urge to fight. The scent of pine grew until it was a towering forest stretching over them. Too big for a gasoline fire to burn down.

“Come on,” Zemo taunted, softly. “Are you afraid?”

A growl ripped from the man’s throat, and he lunged, uncoordinated and slow from what had to be severe head trauma. Zemo ducked out of his way and pivoted on his heel just as the man’s muscled body crashed into the door. He didn’t wait, lifting the pole over his head. A high pitched woosh preceded the sickening crunch of a cracking skull. Warm liquid sprayed across Zemo’s face, making his breath catch in his throat. The man crumpled like a house of cards, but Zemo didn’t stop. Again and again, the pole beat against the man’s body. Again and again, blood splattered over Zemo’s front, into his hair, all over his neck. The scream that had been building inside him finally burst free, ripping out of his lungs like razor blades. A cornered, frenzied animal inhabited his body while a slick heat pulsed low in his stomach with each wet thud.

“Do you like me now?” He asked the mangled corpse, his chest heaving with breaths that were too shallow to stop his spinning vision. A wet, sticky sensation between his thighs mocked him further still. “Am I a beautiful omega yet?” Tears that he couldn’t explain welled in his eyes, and before he knew it, he was doubled over and laughing. The pole dangled from the cuffs, making them dig further still into the gouged indents in his skin, but Zemo didn’t care. He was alive. For now. Until dehydration killed him. Or maybe he would bleed to death – whichever came first. It didn’t matter in the end, because they would find him and know that the weak little omega didn’t die first.

Fuck them all!

Bucky was frantic as a HYDRA goon swung at him and managed to land a vicious punch right to his face. Shit! He was too distracted, and his reaction time was slow as pain ricocheted through his skull. He was too overcome with panic over the fact that they had lost Zemo. The bastard baron had taken the opportunity to run when things got hot, and that fact was all he could think about even as several HYDRA mercs came rushing at him. Bucky tried to push his anxiety down as he shook his head to clear it and tried to focus on the oncoming men. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sam to the left of him. The new captain was engaged with three men at once and beating the crap outta them and Bucky felt a flare of shame that Sam was doing better then he was in this fight. He forced himself back in the game, shut out thoughts of Zemo and allowed his instincts to take over. He felt his body heat and his vision and hearing sharpened as alpha hormones rushed through his blood at fast speeds no normal human body could produce. Bucky felt a head rush that focused him on the fight as he gritted his teeth and growled low and deep. The HYDRA goons must have smelled his aggressive scent as they stopped short right in front of him and looked at each other worriedly. Bucky took the opportunity of their distraction to start wailing on them with brutal efficiency. He grabbed the tallest man by the arm and flung him into his comrades. Once they were on the ground like knocked down bowling pins, he started raining down kicks and stomping his heavy boot into unprotected faces, bellies and groins. The men screamed and wailed as he turned them into pulp and it was music to his ears, the glorious symphony of violence that he still felt unable to resist. One man managed to crawl away a bit from the carnage and Bucky reacted viper quick and pulled him back by his boot. The man cried out in terror and tried to kick Bucky in the knees with his other foot. But his strength was not enough to hobble him, and Bucky viciously snapped his ankle like a twig and snarled.

“Get back here, scum!”

The HYDRA goon wailed and went limp, and Bucky dragged him back to the writhing pile of pulp that once passed as men. He dropped the man carelessly and his head snapped up when he heard Sam yell his name from a distance. Sam was running towards him, the men he had been fighting strewn about, moaning and twisting around on the ground. Bucky felt a surge of pride in his friend. Sam had come a long way in his fighting skills and now he was nearly as lethal as Bucky himself was. Sam trotted up to him and then stopped a few feet from him and made a noise of disgust and covered his mouth and nose with one gloved hand.

“Geez, Buck! Why you always gotta stink so damn bad?”

Bucky felt embarrassed as he breathed in the stench of his alpha scent that clogged the air. It disgusted him and he turned his face away as he felt his cheeks heat in shame. Sam looked regretful of his words and took his hand down and approached Bucky and the pile of HYDRA losers spread out at his feet.

“Looks like you did good, man.”

Sam clapped him on the back and Bucky winced, still not fully used to his partner’s friendly outbursts. Sam ignored his reaction and kicked the motionless body of one merc.

“Maybe a little too good…”

Bucky ignored his comment but watched him like a hawk as Sam raised his head and looked around the warehouse, making several sweeps before he glanced back at Bucky, his eyes worried and his tone firm as he asked.

“Where’s Zemo?”

Bucky cringed and sighed, looking down as he balled his blood-soaked fists, the leather of his gloves creaking from the pressure.

“He ran.”

Sam stepped closer to him and glared at him as his voice lowered and his alpha scent spiked the air.

“He ran?”

Bucky nodded his head and felt the old urge to submit that HYDRA had beat and starved into him. Sam was usually a chill guy, but he was still an alpha and the one in command of this mission and he was capable of being intimidating when he wanted to be.

“Where did he run to, Bucky?”

Bucky felt his knees turn to jelly and a slight tremble overtook him as Sam’s scent grew stronger. He shook his head and kept his eyes down on the blood-covered floor. The younger man noticed his distress and stepped away from his personal space with an annoyed sigh.

“Well, you better damn well go find him since you were the one that was supposed to keep track of him.”

Bucky gulped down on a painfully dry throat and nodded his head. The command had been clear, he needed to find Zemo. But it wasn’t only the command of a superior that had his feet moving fast as he ran across the massive warehouse floor at top speed. He needed to find Zemo for more reasons than just protocol. He needed to locate Zemo and confirm that he was safe because he cared for the stuck-up baron far more than he should.

His infatuation with Zemo had been growing since Madripoor, when his former handler had paraded him around like a prized trophy and threatened to sell him off. When Zemo’s hands had caressed him and burned the feel of their touch into his mind and body forever. When the omega’s power over him had been complete and non-negotiable. A time when Bucky had felt more secure than he had in years. Since that time, he had worked with Zemo again and again and the more he got to know him the more he felt a powerful pull towards the Sokovian. Zemo was the most confident and commanding omega he had ever met and that intrigued him. He was not like the simpering sluts in the whorehouses, drenched in slick and begging for alpha cock. Nor was he like the cold, distant and scentless omegas that repressed their natural urges. Zemo was obviously a lush. He liked good food, good music and all the finer things in life. But he could also appreciate the feel of a warm gun in his grip and the satisfaction of the kill. He was an odd omega for sure. But that only served to entice Bucky more.

He often wondered what it would be like to have Zemo. To take him and spread him out beneath him and claim him as his own. He would take himself in hand on lonely nights and imagine the taste of his sweat and his sweet aroma of fresh pine and bergamot that even Zemo’s blockers couldn’t fully erase as he pressed his sharp teeth to Zemo’s scent gland. What would it feel like to give into his desires and just sink his teeth into that tender flesh? Would Zemo fight him? Or would he succumb like a dame in the old talkies and swoon in his embrace? It was a thought that often took him over the edge, and he spent far too much time thinking about it when in the baron’s presence. Even though he wanted him badly, Bucky was too afraid of Zemo’s rejection to ever broach the subject with him. For, surely, Zemo did not feel the same way about him.

These thoughts spun around his head in a whirlwind of anxiety as he ran up to the front doors of the west side of the warehouse. He stopped so quickly that he slid on the slick concrete floor a good two feet before coming to a stop in front of the large double doors. He saw many footprints in the thick layer of dust that covered the ground of the abandoned building. All of them bore the same shoe tread, obviously HYDRA. All, but one set. His heart leaped in excitement when he spotted the unmistakable imprint of Zemo’s specialty made Cuban heeled boots. The tracks led to the doors and Bucky forced their heavy weight open. The wintery landscape outside was calm and the recently fallen snow lay a pristine cover over the surroundings. Except for the evidence of HYDRA’s coming and going in a vehicle that was no longer there. Right outside the door in the snow there were Zemo’s boot prints and then a struggle could be seen in the smeared and tossed up snow. Bucky’s heart sank and he felt his anxiety spike dangerously high as his heart beat faster with fear. Hydra must have taken Zemo. They must have encountered him when he came through the doors and jumped him and whisked him away to God knows where. Bucky felt his blood rush so fast that a wave of dizziness overcame him, and he swayed and had to prop himself up on the open door as he panted puffs of foggy breath into the frigid air. There was no way to track Zemo as the omega’s scent blockers did enough to make his smell too faint to follow. And following the tracks of the vehicle in the snow was out; since once HYDRA drove onto the main road their trail would be lost from the melted snow on the road. Bucky grit his teeth as a pained groan made its way past his tightly pursed lips. It was from the pain in his heart from failing to protect Zemo, from failing to keep his eye on him and not being there when the baron needed him. Sam had given him one job, to keep Zemo safe and secure and he had failed terribly. Shame rose so quickly in his stomach that he gagged, and tears welled in his eyes. He was frozen with indecision for a long moment, trying to get his hyperventilating under control. He thought of Sam and his friend’s disappointment in him when he found out Zemo had been taken. He thought of Zemo and what terrible things might be happening to him at this very moment. He pitied himself for being such a lousy human being and once more failing to get things right. He raked his brain for ideas and the sudden thought of the HYDRA goon whose ankle he had broken flashed through his mind. Everyone else was likely dead or unconscious, everyone but that one man….

He had to get back to Sam as soon as possible.

Bucky ran back the way he came at top speed, his legs aching and lungs burning. He made it back to Sam in record time and was relieved to see Sam guarding a very much alive and awake HYDRA merc. Rage instantly flared at the sight of the pitiful looking man, and he rushed right past Sam to grab the man by the collar and lift him off the ground. The broken man wailed in fear and Bucky heard Sam yelling his name, but he couldn’t pay it any attention as he shook the man and yelled.

“Where did they take him!?”

The HYDRA scumbag shook his head wildly and whimpered out.

“I…I don... don’t know what you’re talking about”

Bucky felt the bonfire of his anger ignite with new fuel for his rage and he dropped the man like a sack of potatoes. The man crashed to the bloody concrete floor and screamed out in agony as he landed on his crushed ankle and crumpled to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. Bucky felt no pity as be bent over the man and hissed in his face.

“Zemo! Where did your fucking friends take him?”

Bucky heard Sam yell “Woah now, what!?” but ignored him and violently shook the goon again. The helpless man trembled in his grasp and tried to bring his hands up to pry Bucky off him, but he tightened his grip so hard the thick fabric of the man’s tactical vest ripped.

“Tell me right now!”

Suddenly Bucky felt a hand fall onto his shoulder and squeeze tight. That got his attention, and he turned his head to see Sam leaning over him. The captain’s eyes were concerned, but gentle as he coaxed him in soft tones.

“Come on, Buck, let the poor bastard go and tell me what happened.”

Bucky felt instantly soothed and blinked rapidly a few times like he was coming out of a spell as the rage fogging his brain burned off and his head cleared. He let his fingers uncurl from the man’s vest and he slowly let go of him as he took a deep cleansing breath before speaking.

“Zemo’s gone; Sam. HYDRA took him.”

Sam’s face grew stern, and his normally smiling lips turned down and set firmly into a concerned frown. He let out a snort of air through his nose and nodded his head a few times. Sam’s jaw was obviously tight, and his posture turned ridged. His alpha scent saturated the stagnant air, and Bucky could tell he was going through his own anger at that moment, and he stayed quiet, waiting for Sam to talk first.

“Alright…. Alright… I see.”

Bucky felt a flicker of doubt and fear as Sam stood back up and put his hands on his hips. The younger alpha cracked his neck and sighed before he looked down on Bucky and their captive goon and glared.

“Where is he? I’m serious, no more games.”

Their captive looked back and forth between them judging their intent and then shook his head again and sniveled out.

“I really don’t know.”

Bucky felt his rage rise again and he reached out and slapped the man hard before he even realized what he was doing. Sam clicked his tongue and mirthlessly chided.

“Now, now, Buck. There’s no need to be violent.”

Bucky felt annoyance spark in his chest and was about to talk back when Sam leaned over and rested his hand on Bucky’s left shoulder and glared down at the man as he continued in a commanding tone.

“I’m sure he really doesn’t know. Because if he was lying to protect HYDRA, then I’m sure he’d understand that the Winter Solider himself would fuck him up for being complicit in the kidnapping of our teammate. I’m sure he’s not that stupid.”

Sam stood back up, looming tall over them and Bucky could tell that his alpha hormones swirling in the air were affecting the goon, as his grey eyes turned dull, and he shivered and hugged himself tightly and started to rock back and forth. Sam let this go on for a long moment before he looked at Bucky and cocked his eyebrow to signal him to push things further. Bucky once more grabbed the man by the vest and shook him and the merc yelped and tried to push him off as he babbled frantically.

“I don’t know… I don’t know…”

Sam scoffed and then pointed at Bucky.

“Do you understand who this is? He can and will kill you if I let him.”

Bucky kinda resented that Sam was tugging his leash but chose to ignore it and play into it. He growled deep in his chest and let go of his control, letting his alpha scent stink up the already potent air. The man shuddered and anxiously looked between them. He seemed to be overcome, and he suddenly broke down crying, huge gasping sobs that wracked his body as he brokenly whined out.

“They took him to our safehouse in upstate.”

Sam exchanged looks with Bucky and he let go of the pathetic man’s vest and shoved him to the ground. Bucky stood up to his full height and placed his foot down on the man’s crotch, his boot pressing down with threatening pressure as he barked out.

“The address, now!”

It had taken Bucky several hours to drive to the location and the whole trip long, all he could think about was Zemo. His mind conjured up all the many horrors the man might be going through. All the ones he knew HYDRA to be proficient in from personal experience. He went over his thoughts about Zemo and thoroughly examined them. He concluded that he was probably in love with the man or something like that. Bucky found it hard to admit that even in the privacy of his own head and shoved it back into the dark corners of his mind and heart. It was a pipe dream after all – that Zemo could ever love him in return. With everything that he was and has been there’s just no way that the baron could return his affections. At least that’s what he told himself, even though he kept a grain of hope like a piece of sand in his heart, perhaps one day to transform into a pearl.

He had been surprised when Sam had allowed him to go alone. He would have thought his friend would insist on accompanying him. But after he had explained that he felt responsible for Zemo’s kidnapping and wanted to rescue him alone to atone, Sam had relented and told him he trusted him to get the bratty baron back. He had felt a great surge of platonic love for his partner then and had to restrain himself from hugging him in gratitude. Bucky had left immediately with Sam’s parting words ringing in his ears.

“Get him back, Buck.”

He intended to do just that.

As he grew closer to the location of the HYDRA safehouse he grew more anxious and agitated. Once he was only a few minutes away he had to take deep breaths to remain calm enough to function. What was agitating him the most was the fear of what he was going to find when he got there. Would Zemo be healthy and whole, would he even be alive? Or would he be a broken shell of his former cocky self from all the abuse he was no doubt being subjected to. Bucky knew all about the kinds of abuse that HYDRA liked to use and shuddered at the thought of any of it being done to his Zemo. He prayed to a God that had never shone grace upon him to protect Zemo from HYDRA’s favorite method of torture.

He turned on to a street that led deep into the snowy pine woods and rolled down the window to take in the fresh scent of the trees. They remind him of Zemo’s sweet scent, and he smiled softly to himself despite his anxiety. He drove down the unpaved road for about two miles before he saw the dark form of a cabin peeking out from behind the trees around 1,000 yards away. He pulled the car to the side of the road and drove into a gap in the trees and parked in their shelter. The sky above is grey with storm clouds that signal that more snow is coming soon. The temperature will be drooping harshly as sunset is near and Bucky wants to get in and out with Zemo as quickly as possible. He doesn’t want to be stuck in the dark while it is snowing with Zemo potentially being injured, or worse. He stealthily makes his way to the cabin and encounters no trouble. Once he makes it to about 200 yards away, he does a recon of the building.

The cabin is decently sized and modern in style. He can tell that the glass in the windows is bullet proof and so is the siding that covers the cabin walls. There is only one door that he can see and that poses a problem. There are two guards at the entrance. They are in plain clothes, but Bucky can tell that they are HYDRA from their stench. It’s a scent he’ll never forget. The smell of pain and death. The two men are standing around casually smoking cigarettes and chatting as Bucky creeps along the wall toward the stairs that lead to the door, and it takes only a moment to surprise them and snap their necks. The bodies have walkie-talkies, and he grabs one and turns it on. It crackles to life, but there is no chatter. He turns it off and pockets it and then turns to the door. It looks like a regular wooden door, but when he puts his hands to it there is the chill of steel. He looks for a doorknob and finds none. Then he spots the fingerprint reader to the side by the frame. Bucky bends down over the corpses and takes his bowie knife from his boot. He places the hand of one of the bodies down on the floor of the stoop and splays the fingers out. Bucky takes his knife and applies pressure to one finger at the base until the bone inside cracks and shatters and he clips it right off. He does this to all the fingers on the body’s hand, since he doesn’t know which finger was being used by the scanner. Better to be prepared than underprepared, that’s always been his motto. He chooses the pointer finger to try first and is lucky when he hears the locks disengaging on the door as the reader flashes green. The heavy door slowly slides open, and Bucky is through it the moment the crack is big enough for him to fit through.

He enters a dim hallway and can tell right away that the cabin is only a front. The space is tastefully decorated in the New England style and looks perfectly normal for a cabin in upstate New York. This means that the real action must be below ground. Bucky gingerly makes his way through the house but doesn’t encounter anyone until he reaches the kitchen. There is a single HYDRA scumbag guarding what looks like a basement door and the man looks at him in shock when he emerges from the gloom. The man is too slow to do anything about Bucky snaping his neck too. It’s the most efficient way to kill someone quickly and quietly. Bucky kicks his body to the side, away from the door and takes out the finger from his pocket. He presses it to the lock reader, and it flashes green. This door opens with a quick whoosh and Bucky winces at the loud sound it makes. He waits a moment before entering to see if anyone is coming. But no one does. So, he enters the door onto a flight of stairs that go down much deeper than a single story. He reaches the end of the stairs to find another door that he opens without any hassle. It all seems too easy, and Bucky feels his chest tighten with dread. HYDRA rarely makes things easy for him. He enters another hallway, but this one is full of many doors on each side. Now the hard part begins, he thinks. But then he catches the scent of an alpha on the stale air. The smell of gasoline and smoke lingers, and he starts to sniff hard to catch more of it. Bucky follows the scent all the way to a large door at the end of the hallway. He’s convinced that Zemo is in there and he’s preparing to press the severed finger to the print reader when he hears a sound that chills his blood. A cackle of crazed laughter comes from the other side of the door, it’s muffled but still loud enough to unsettle him and Bucky hurriedly shoves the dead finger to the lock and the door opens with a whoosh.

Bucky is instantly hit by the heavy musk of an aroused omega, and he immediately recognizes Zemo’s unique pine and bergamot scent. His nostrils flare and he takes in a heavy lungful of the heavenly aroma. He feels like he’s just been given a good knock to the noggin and his head spins and his heart races. He feels himself flush all over with illicit heat that goes straight to his cock and within seconds he has a raging erection. He’s so shocked by all these intense sensations that it takes a moment for him to realize what he’s looking at. Bucky tries to focus his hazy vision and when it clears, he sees Zemo standing over the obliterated body of a large man. There is blood everywhere. On the walls and the ceiling of this sterile, little, windowless cell. Bathed in harsh fluorescent light Zemo is absolutely drenched in blood, and it drips off him in steady streams. Bucky forces his weak legs to move him forward into the cell and is hit by another scent, the stench of an alpha in pre-rut. The same burning gasoline smell that he followed here. Bucky understands instantly what happened here. HYDRA sent some fucking alpha piece of shit to rape Zemo. Maybe even force a bond to be even more sadistic. But it seems that Zemo has fought back and won. Bucky is so impressed with this that he nearly comes in his tactical pants at the very thought of Zemo competently defending himself. But should he really be surprised? Zemo is a soldier after all. He may be an omega, but that had never hindered his mad plans before.

Zemo is panting harshly, and he wobbles on his feet. Bucky notices the piece of iron rod the younger man is holding in his bloody fist and that his marred wrist is attached to it by a metal cuff. He makes more progress into the room before Zemo shifts and another wave of the delicious fresh scent of Zemo’s slick invades his nostrils and lungs. It’s so damn intense, the feeling of overwhelming lust Bucky feels, and he trembles as his legs turn to jelly and give out under him. Bucky crashes to his knees on the hard concrete floor and it’s this ruckus that finally gets Zemo’s notice. The baron turns to look at him and his honey-brown eyes are blown so black there is only a thin ring of gold visible. His hair is disheveled and stained sanguine with blood. Zemo has a crazed look on his face, his dark eyes full of feral light and his thin lips cracked in a crooked smile that showed teeth stained scarlet. Bucky had never been more aroused and primed to rut in all his life. He felt his pheromones fogging his mind and loosening his muscles and he flopped to his hands, so he was on all fours. He looked up at Zemo through his long lashes as the man towered over him and needily whined.

“Zeeemoooo….”

The omega looked at him like he didn’t recognize him, and Bucky felt a stab of panic clench his chest. He needed Zemo to remember him, needed him to come to him and give him what he so desperately wanted. Bucky started to crawl towards Zemo and the other man’s face contorted with confusion and Bucky felt like he could cry in frustration. He reached Zemo’s feet and so near to the omega his scent was overwhelming in its potency. Bucky’s cock throbbed and gushed out a glob of precome in his pants as he shuddered and groaned as a sudden pain overwhelmed him. The urge to mate was so strong that holding back was causing cramps in his core and sending tingles of fire through his arms and legs. But he had to maintain control of himself. He would never, ever, ever force anyone into copulating, and especially not Zemo of all people. HYDRA had forced him to commit rape in the past and it had traumatized him. He had no desire to repeat that sinful act. But he needed to fuck Zemo, or he felt like he was going to die. His body had almost certainly gone into a forced rut from Zemo’s scent alone, and he couldn’t think straight as he shakily raised on his knees so he could bury his face in Zemo crotch. He breathed through his mouth to scent Zemo better as the omega’s sweet musk tantalized him and overrode his ability to think straight and reason. He knew this was a bad idea, was crossing a line. But he didn’t know what else to do. He had to fuck into Zemo’s hot, wet hole or he was going to go mad.

“Zemo, please…please – I need you.”

Zemo looked down on him and his blown black eyes started to clear from their haze. Bucky felt a surge of hope burst in his chest and clung onto Zemo’s thighs with shaky hands. He rubbed his stubbly cheek to Zemo’s clothed crotch and could feel his hard arousal through the material and his mind went blank with lust. Bucky was panting like a dog and probably no better than one as he whined and begged for his master’s attention. Finally, something clicked in Zemo’s eyes, and he looked down at Bucky and tilted his head and whispered out in amazement.

“…James?”

There was a rush in Zemo’s ears. Like wind whistling through the trees in a dark forest, hundreds of miles from any living soul. He stared down at James’ crumpled form, wondering if he was real, or if this was the vivid creation of a dying mind. James, clinging to him like Zemo was the only thing standing between him and destruction. Like Zemo was a violent God in a human vessel. Overly bright blue eyes looked up through dark lashes, wide and pleading. He’d never imagined an alpha like the Winter Soldier could look so small. Even when Zemo had controlled him with the code words, he was a force of nature on a very frail leash. The wind continued to howl in his ears, getting louder and louder. Zemo’s lips parted, and the heady scent of blackberry tea immediately coated his tongue. It was brimming with hot arousal, hot enough to match the need that was burning Zemo alive. It hurt. Every nerve in his body was on fire, and it was agony. James’s eyes were watering as his fingers dug into the backs of Zemo’s thighs, and he nuzzled closer, the scent of his rut blurring everything else out. With a hand that was trembling so severely it barely made it into James’ hair, Zemo finally confirmed that this wasn’t a hallucination.

The clumsy contact had the alpha gasping like he was in heat. The universe really had offered a beautiful solution on a silver platter. But Zemo needed more. He needed the fucking pole unchained from his wrists so he could move properly, he needed…

“James.”

His voice was tight and brittle, but James looked at him like he’d been commanded. “I need your help. I am in pain.”  As predicted, the declaration of his distress had the alpha’s scent flaring up. James yanked Zemo closer, making heat shoot down his spine to prompt another gush of slick. Good. He needed the brutality, the ownership. Anything else wouldn’t be enough. He didn’t have the codewords anymore, but Zemo could shred what remained of his dignity and push this where he needed it to go.

He stopped suppressing the tears crowding his eyes, and he let his posture finally droop in defeat and exhaustion. Part of him hated how James looked at him with so much frantic concern, like he was ever worthy of such a thing, but he didn’t stop. With his eyes downcast, Zemo exposed his vulnerable throat and let out a high-pitched whimper. The air rushed out of him as James surged up and crowded him up against the wall. His broad back caged Zemo in and blocked him off from the rest of the room. Something feral was starting to bleed into his demeanor, no doubt triggered by the blend of his rut and his instincts to protect an omega packmate. Zemo still needed more. He needed to be touched until he broke, to be used until his brain gave in and he didn’t have to think anymore. He needed to be ripped apart on this godforsaken floor next to the corpse he’d made. Anything less than that could never stop the burning. A fleeting little part of him cried out in immeasurable grief at James having to be the one to do it. Before it could take hold, it burned up in the agony. Zemo writhed against James’s thigh that was lodged firmly between his legs, his hands – and the pole – crushed flat against his chest while James nosed frantically against his scent gland.

“He…” Zemo cut off with a whine as a shock of dizzying pleasure stole his voice away. These next words would hit a territorial alpha like a knock-out blow. James was primed to receive it, just like Zemo wanted. Control was back in his hands and the monster in his soul purred with satisfaction. He would never submit again. “He tried to force a bond on me, James. He wanted to take me from you.”

Bucky felt trapped in thick fog as his mind slowly registered Zemo’s words. That HYDRA motherfucker had tried to take what was his? Had tried to rape and force a bond onto his packmate, his omega? How fucking dare that monster touch Zemo! Bucky would kill the fucker if Zemo hadn’t have beaten him to it. Rage flooded his veins, and he growled into the crook of Zemo’s neck, baring his teeth against the soft flesh. Zemo shuddered as he pressed his leg tighter between the other’s thighs and snarled out.

“Mine!”

Bucky felt drunk on Zemo’s scent as it flooded the air with a more intense aroma. He felt like a bystander from his body as the fresh scent of pine muddled his mind and clouded his judgement. All he wanted was to relieve the pain of this forced rut by burying his cock in his omega’s tight heat. He could feel wetness on his leg as Zemo’s slick seeped through his clothes and into his own. His head spun and he started to messily lap at Zemo’s scent gland, his tongue pulling up particles of Zemo’s unique flavor that made him hungry for more. The other man tasted so good, so sweet and ripe. Zemo writhed on Bucky’s leg as his breath rushed past his lips.

“Yes, yours James, only yours…”

Bucky barely heard the words past the sound of rushing blood in his ears. But they penetrated the white noise well enough for him to understand that Zemo was agreeing with him. A flare of triumphant heat flashed down his spine and straight to his cock and it jerked in his too-tight tac pants and pulsed out more precome. He groaned into Zemo’s neck and his teeth ached to bite down. But he managed to control himself and he pulled back slightly to lick and nip at Zemo’s jawline instead. His omega sighed longingly, and he tried to move his hands which were trapped between their flush bodies but had to bite back a whimper of pain at the movement.

Even through the fog of lust Bucky felt the hard metal that was pressed against him, and he suddenly remembered the handcuffs around Zemo’s wrists and the metal rod attached to one of them. He forced himself to pull away from Zemo and grabbed the other man’s arm and used his vibranium hand to rip the metal cuff right off Zemo’s wrist. Bright blood was sluggishly leaking out in droplets from the cuts impressed into Zemo’s pale skin, like crimson rose petals against the first snow fall of the season. The smell of Zemo’s blood seeped into his nose, and he inhaled deeply to savor the scent. Bucky moved without thought and lifted Zemo’s wrist to his mouth and started to lick up the blood with bold swaths of his tongue. The taste burst sweet on his tongue like a ripe peach, and he trembled with the intensity of the lust burning through him. Zemo gasped in surprise, but the sound instantly melted into a moan of pleasure as Bucky feasted on him. Bucky was lost in sensation as the taste and smell of the baron consumed him. There was little thought in his head beyond feral need and greedy desire to claim what he had so longed for. He kept lapping up Zemo’s blood until the smaller man roughly pulled his wrist from his grip. Bucky whined like a kicked dog at the loss as Zemo raised his other wrist and showed him the other cuff. He made quick work of that bit of metal as well and moved to repeat his actions with the omega’s other wrist, but Zemo moved his hands away and up to his shoulders where he rested his trembling palms on Bucky’s tense body. The touch jolted Bucky as the fire inside him roared to greater heights. His panting breath caught in his throat as Zemo leaned in and sighed against his ear.

“My strong, Alpha, I knew you would come save me.”

Bucky felt like he could explode from the swell of pride that filled his breast. He puffed out his chest and jutted out his jaw in presentation for his omega. The fact that Zemo had pretty much saved himself by beating his attacker to death all on his own didn’t really register through the haze of hormones the praise raised in him. His own scent swelled in the air and Zemo’s eyes dilated even wider still as Bucky leaned in and panted against his mouth.

“I would never let them have you.”

Bucky moved to kiss him, but Zemo turned his head to the side and his lips grazed his bloody cheek instead. Bucky felt a flicker of disappointment but couldn’t give it much thought as Zemo pressed firmly down on his shoulders as his scent spiked. He went to his knees willingly and gazed up at Zemo for a hint of permission to finally let go of his last shred of control. Zemo looked down at him with hazy, dark eyes tinged with sadness as he thread shaky fingers through his hair and pulled harshly.

“Oh, James…I’m sorry.”

Bucky didn’t have time to ponder the apology as Zemo pulled his head into his crotch and bucked his hips against his face. The scent of Zemo’s slick overrode all other thought and Bucky growled and buried his face deeper into the wet material of his tactical pants and shuddered as his cock throbbed. He reached up and grabbed hold of Zemo’s pants with trembling hands and ripped the cloth clean through. Zemo moaned lewdly when his pretty, petite omega cock was revealed to Bucky’s hungry gaze and the treasure that lay beneath it, the swollen, pink lips of his dripping wet pussy. Bucky groaned with red-hot desire at the sight and felt a flush of fire in his blood, and when Zemo pulled his hair again, he leaned down without resistance and took the baron’s hard little cock into his mouth. Zemo keened when he started to bath the short length of it with broad licks and his grip in his hair tightened painfully. But the sensation only fueled his lust and Bucky gushed out more pre into his pants as he started to worship Zemo’s delicate prick. The other man only let this go on for a short time before he pushed down on Bucky’s head and forced his questing tongue further south. Bucky went willingly and nuzzled his nose between the lips of Zemo’s flushed pussy and inhaled as deeply as he could. The scent of Zemo’s omega pheromones was so potent at the source that his head spun, and his limbs felt weak as he trembled, and his cock started to swell even harder. He flickered his tongue out and collected the ambrosial drops of slick clinging to Zemo’s labia and the sweet taste hit him so hard he nearly knotted right then and there. With a growl he buried his face into Zemo’s cunt and started to wildly lick and suck with abandon. The baron mewled his name and pulled so hard on his hair that he felt some of it rip out at the roots. He buried his tongue as deep inside Zemo as he could and licked up more slick and greedily swallowed it down. The smaller man bucked his hips and forced Bucky’s head down tighter against his pubis and Bucky’s oxygen was cut off, but he didn’t care, he would happily smother himself to death in Zemo cunt if that’s what his omega wanted from him. Above him Zemo moaned and whined and then shuddered violently as he came. A fresh gush of slick coated Bucky’s tongue, and he choked on the intoxicating fluid as Zemo ground his mound against his face as he rode out his climax. Bucky’s lungs started to burn, and he felt his eyes roll back in his head as the edges of heavenly bliss slipped closer. Then with a sudden violent movement Zemo shoved him away and he took in a great gasping breath of air that was so saturated with the baron’s musk that he felt like he was swimming in thick fog. Bucky was dizzy and disoriented as he looked up at Zemo to see him panting harshly, sweat dripping down his face, catching in the blood still coating his skin and leaving pink trails behind. Zemo was wild eyed as he started to quickly rip his ruined pants off himself. Then he pierced Bucky with a frantic look and growled out.

“On your back, now.”

At the command Bucky immediately lay flat on his back on the cold and bloody concrete floor and awaited further orders. This was all so familiar that a strange feeling of nostalgia managed to tingle his brain enough for him to notice it through the rutting frenzy and he suddenly felt a creep of dread. But then Zemo stepped closer to him and urgently dropped down atop him and bracketed Bucky’s hips between his wet thighs. Bucky looked on eagerly as Zemo started to unbuckle and unzip his pants with shaky hands. But still he needed to know this was okay.

“Zemo, stop…wait just a moment…”

Bucky reached out to take one of Zemo’s hands and the younger man slapped his hand away and snapped.

“Just shut up, James!”

Then the baron ripped his pants open, and his throbbing hard prick popped out and Zemo gasped in wonder before purring out.

“This is all I want from you, your fat, Alpha cock.”

Bucky felt slighted through the haze of hormones and was about to protest when Zemo took hold of his member and gave it a few firm strokes with his blood sticky hand and all rational thought was knocked out of his muddled brain. He let out a growling groan and bucked his hips into Zemo’s touch and the baron smiled down at him with wild eyes as he cooed out.

“That’s a good boy.”

Bucky shuddered as the words sent tingles of warmth through his body and his dick pulsed out more pre. Then Zemo lifted his body up and positioned himself over Bucky’s cock and he felt like he should do something other than lay there, lax and submissive. But he couldn’t make his paralyzed body move. Zemo started to drop his body down onto of his cock and when his tip made contact with the baron’s sopping wet outer lips, he felt himself swell at the base and he tried to hold back his oncoming climax. Zemo moaned throatily as Bucky’s cock breached his body and tossed his head back, exposing his supple throat and obviously flushed and swollen scent gland. Bucky’s gaze zeroed in on it and he felt the urge to reach up and bite down on the tantalizing flesh; but the feeling of Zemo fully sinking down onto his cock distracted him and he moaned out obscenely at the feel of Zemo’s inner walls clamping down on him. Zemo let out a breathy, off-kilter laugh and rocked his hips down roughly, shoving Bucky’s cock deeper inside him and then he started to move in earnest, building up a fast rhythm right away. Bucky felt helpless to do anything but lay there and let Zemo ride him. He felt drugged with lust and out of his mind with desperation and it didn’t take long before he was snapping his hips up and roughly fucking Zemo with little thought to his comfort. But it didn’t seem to bother Zemo, who moaned and mewled as he bounced on his cock and dug his fingers painfully hard into the meat of Bucky’s breast through his sweat damp shirt as he panted out with vicious glee.

“I had heard you were submissive, but I had my doubts. Are you even really an Alpha, or just a little bitch?”

Bucky felt side-swiped by the cruel words and looked up at Zemo, stunned. But the look in the other man’s eyes was feral as he continued to fuck himself on Bucky’s cock as a mocking smirk spread on his red lips and Zemo snarled out.

“Fuck me like a real Alpha would!”

Rage instantly overtook Bucky, and he grabbed Zemo by the shoulders and threw him to the ground. The baron scrambled for a moment on his hands and knees before Bucky reached out lightning quick and clamped his large, vibranium hand over the back of Zemo’s slim neck and shoved him face-first into the ground. Zemo yelped and kicked his legs wildly as Bucky used his flesh hand to grab a hold of the swell of one curvy hip and hold him still as he viciously shoved his cock back into Zemo’s sopping cunt. The smaller man cried out in pain, but the sounds coming out of him quickly colored with lust and soon he was moaning like a whore as Bucky fucked him roughly. Bucky dug his fingers deeper into the flesh of the baron’s neck and saw the bruises blooming beneath his hand and leaned over him to grunt harshly in his ear.

“This what you want?”

Zemo hissed an affirmation and bucked his hips back, taking Bucky’s cock deeper as he nearly sobbed.

“Use me, break me, I don’t care!”

Bucky snarled in anger and slammed his hips into Zemo’s own so hard that the sound cracked loudly in the otherwise still room. The other man shuddered violently, and his inner walls clamped down so hard that Bucky’s cock was nearly pushed out, but he forced his way past the resistance and fucked Zemo through another orgasm. Suddenly Zemo went limp in his grasp and Bucky warily let go of his neck only to be shocked by the intensity of the purple and red bruises ringing his pale throat. His rhythm faltered and he was about to pull out of Zemo’s tight cunt when the baron turned his head and snarled.

“Don’t you dare stop!”

Zemo bucked his hips and took him in deeper and Bucky felt his mind once more cloud over as a new wave of fresh pine scented the thick, humid air. He rammed his cock inside Zemo over and over as he mounted him like a beast. There was nothing else in the world that mattered more then fucking his omega. Nothing more pleasurable than the feel of Zemo’s hot, wet pussy rippling around his rock-hard cock. He gave one particularly powerful thrust and Zemo keened brokenly and fought to stay up on his trembling hands and knees. Bucky reached around and took hold of Zemo’s petite cock and started to stroke it in time with his thrusts as he felt his end approaching. Zemo let out a panting whine as droll slipped past his thin lips and rolled down his chin and Bucky leaned over to lick it from his skin before nuzzling into the crook of Zemo’s neck and lapping at his swollen gland. Zemo shuddered and came again with a sharp cry and his cunt squeezed Bucky’s cock so tight he saw stars and the base of his cock swelled as his knot formed. Zemo mewled in pure pleasure and slammed his hips back to take Bucky in deeper, but his knot was already making movement difficult as he cried.

“Yes! Breed me, James!”

Zemo sobbed in ecstasy when Bucky snapped his hips and roughly forced his knot past the resistance as he came, hard, harder than he probably ever had before. He roared his pleasure into the baron’s neck as Zemo’s cunt milked him of his massive load. He felt like he was coming forever, and pure bliss blazed through his body as he shuddered and moaned. Bucky’s teeth ached to bite, and he growled as he bared them against Zemo’s flesh. He pumped his hips one last time as he reared his head back and the instinct to claim his omega overrode all sense. But then there was a blinding pain in his temple as Zemo’s fist made contact with his head and the smaller man yelled.

“Don’t you fucking dare!”

They were still tied together and the jolt of Bucky’s body from the blow only made Zemo groan and wilt beneath him as he trembled through his last orgasm. Bucky was dazed and slumped over Zemo’s back as his strength left him now that he had climaxed. Zemo shifted under him and moaned pathetically when cum squelched out around Bucky’s cock. Bucky blearily noticed that his hand was still on Zemo’s little prick, which was now growing soft. He moved his hand to Zemo’s belly and felt that it was slightly extended. The thought of Zemo pregnant with his pups suddenly flashed through his mind and he felt sadness creeping in. Bucky sighed wistfully and let his arms wrap around Zemo in a tight hug. He leaned his forehead against Zemo’s back, the material of his mauve shirt soaked through with sweat. He rested there as he came down from his high, his panting breath slowing along with Zemo’s. Now that he wasn’t crazed with lust regret was trying to claw him down into darkness. Bucky felt the burn of tears threaten and he sniffled and nuzzled against Zemo’s back as he whispered.

“I’m sorry, Zemo. I don’t know…”

“Not now, James!”

Bucky felt the sting of rejection and wanted to get as far away as possible from Zemo. But they were still tied together for the time being. So, he sighed deeply and fell quiet and waited for his cursed biology to allow him to escape from this hell of his own making.

Chapter Text

One thing was absolutely certain. Helmut Zemo was an idiot beyond compare, and he had really fucked it up for himself this time. He didn’t wait for James’ knot to go down properly. Once it was doable without splitting himself in half, he tore himself off. A shock of pain had him gasping and nearly collapsing onto his wobbly knees, but he managed to stumble for the wall and brace himself on it. Christ. James was massive. This was going to hurt for days.

“Are…” The alpha’s voice was reserved and burdened with discomfort, but there was a notable clarity to it now. Zemo was too ashamed to turn around and look. “Are you okay?”

Oh, bless his kind little heart. “No” Zemo ground out, staring at the wall like he could sink through it somehow, make it into his tomb. He was dizzy beyond belief, and– Oh, right on cue. It was only by a hair that he managed to twist around to avoid vomiting down his legs and shoes. He was mid-gag when he sensed James coming up behind him and he flung a hand out in a furious bid to get him to stop.

“Zemo…” James pressed, though he did refrain from stepping closer. “The back of your head. That’s not his blood…”

Zemo spat out the remnants of bile, but there was little to be done about the taste. His vision was spinning in circles, and as he straightened himself back up, it only got worse. With no adrenaline to mask it, the concussion was wasting no time in making itself known. “I was pistol whipped,” he managed, bitterly. Snuck up on and struck down like a sitting duck. All his military prowess and all his supposed smarts, useless in the face of an alpha goon with a hard-on. Zemo almost said as much, but it hurt to talk. Pain pulsated through his skull and down his beaten body. So, he settled for a sharp: “What do you care, anyhow?” It wasn’t what he wanted to say, but the feeling of blood and semen running down his thighs threw gasoline on the blazing humiliation burning him alive. All he wanted was to shower, get back on his suppressants, and return to his god forsaken cell. The isolation may be torture, but at least it wasn’t this.

“What do I care?”  James sounded like he was about to shout but cut himself off at the last moment. Zemo threw a reflexive look over his shoulder and faltered a step away from the abrupt resurfacing of alpha pheromones. The sight of it made whatever anger James had summoned burn out like a suffocated tea-candle. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said, so softly it was almost insulting. Zemo’s heart wrenched at how those blue eyes pleaded with him, at how genuinely remorseful he looked. As if James was the one who set this into motion, when the real orchestrator lay in a puddle of his own blood a few feet away. The HYDRA agent and his omega murderer would be side by side in hell in due time. James certainly wouldn’t be there, not if Zemo had anything to say on the matter. He was too good for this life. Too innocent.

It was enraging that he couldn’t see that himself. He kept returning to Zemo like a beaten dog, like he wanted to be contaminated by the filth that stained the omega’s hands. And Zemo had taken advantage of that perfect little opportunity, hadn’t he? Just like he always did in his life. “I don’t need your apologies.” Turning sharply on his heel, he made for the door. He needed out. He could still feel James’s presence inside his body, and the cruel longing to have him back was tearing him to pieces.  A vice grip clamped down on his bicep. Zemo’s vision blacked out as a flash flood of panic swept him away. He didn’t realize the loud keen was his until James flinched away. “Sorry” he said, hushed and terrified. “But you… you can’t walk out like that. There are cameras.” Zemo stared at the floor in a mild daze while his heart continued to race. The ghostly brush of teeth against his scent gland taunted him as he dragged his eyes up to take stock of himself. His pants – or what remained of them – left nothing to the imagination. Mottled bruises littered his skin, which was painted by a mix of drying slick, cum, and blood. He was still flushed, too. It had to be maddening for an alpha to look at. An odd sense of victory unfurled in his chest. These weren’t the marks of a would-be rapist. He had made sure of that. That other alpha couldn’t make him capitulate. Zemo fought back the urge to bare his teeth in a grin.

“Here.” James’ cautious voice startled him out of his thoughts. He turned, finding a sweater and a jacket held out toward him. It left James in his short-sleeved undershirt. Zemo stared incredulously at him. “You’ll freeze.” The clothes were nudged a little closer, though never near enough to touch. “The serum won’t let that happen to me. Take them.” The degradation of having to do a walk of shame in this state would be a fitting start to his punishment. He had won, sure, but was victory at the cost of James’s innocence really worth it? The alpha must have read the refusal in his expression, because his features abruptly hardened into a determined frown. “Listen, I know I’m not your mate, and I know you want fuck all to do with me right now, but I did this.” He gestured curtly, like he was embarrassed too. “And I will not let you walk out of here like that.” Zemo smiled, though it was a poisonous, fleeting thing. “What if I want to?”

“You don’t.” James’s nostrils flared with his budding anger. “You’re just trying to hurt yourself.”

The words slapped Zemo across the face. He hadn’t expected that cutting insight. Not here, not like this. So, when the clothes were dumped into his arms, he numbly accepted them. Both the jacket and the sweater were tied around his waist, forming a make-shift skirt to cover up where his pants were torn. It was only then that Zemo realized he could barely tell where his own scent ended, and James’s began. It was… It smelled like they were a bonded pair. His heart contorted itself in his chest in a desperate bid to flee from how it was shattering.

In the end, he barely made it up the stairs. James had to haul him up the last few steps, the concussion making him tilt sideways no matter how hard he tried to walk straight. Zemo barely registered the cabin full of corpses he was dragged through, barely felt it as he was dumped into the passenger seat of a car. With a hand pressed over his scent gland, he closed his eyes and fought against the vengeful return of his nausea. Hopefully he’d make it to the safe house in time, or they’d be stuck with the stench of that too. It was miserable. He would do anything to pass out and never wake up again. The only solace available was that James, of all people, understood that a hospital was not an option. So as the landscape blurred by and he routinely pinched himself to stave off the urge to fall asleep, Zemo let the familiar weightlessness of dissociation steal him away from the unbearable present.

When they did finally make it back, some unknown number of hours later, Zemo was awoken by a nudge on his arm. He flinched, but he wasn’t nearly as helpless against the panic as he had been back in that room. A good sign if nothing else, though James still looked like someone had driven a stake through his heart. “Thank you,” Zemo forced out, before fumbling with the door handle and all but falling out of the car. He managed to cross the driveway by sheer force of will, despite how the scent of worried alpha trailed after him. When Sam abruptly flung open the door, Zemo didn’t slow down, instead ducking underneath the alpha’s arm and bee-lining for the bathroom.

“What the fuck!?” Sam’s scent spiked in alarm, but before he could finish his sentence, the bathroom door slammed shut. Zemo slid down the length of it and collapsed into a shivering heap on the floor. Alpha pheromones from them both mixed together and seeped in through the cracks. Zemo squeezed his eyes shut to avoid banging his head against the wood. Why was he always surrounded by alphas? Prison guards, officers, superiors, captors, his teammates – it never ended. Had the world run out of betas?

Raised voices shook him back into action. Sam was decidedly not happy, and neither was James. It was no wonder. Whether they liked Zemo or not. A distressed and wounded omega in a pack-esque dynamic, with two headstrong alphas, would always stir up tension. Especially when said omega denied them both the opportunity to care for him.

With a labored sigh, he got himself to his feet and shed all his ruined clothing. He made an effort to avoid the mirror at all costs. He caught flashes of his bloodstained and bruised skin, but he didn’t linger. Once he finally dragged himself into the shower and turned it on, he lost the will to stay standing any longer. The hot water poured over his head and back, painting the floor a vivid shade of pink as it rushed toward the drain. Zemo blinked around his swirling vision and regarded his wrists. The cuffs had sawed so deeply into his skin, it was a wonder no veins had been severed. The wounds had started a pitiful attempt to scab over, though that effort was quickly washed away.

…He had fought hard, hadn’t he? He didn’t realize he was capable of such a thing. Not anymore. Zemo looked up at the door, where James was more than likely hovering like a sullen bodyguard. The vision of his flushed face, the sound of his beautiful voice, the feeling of his knot locked tight inside Zemo’s body… He shivered with a want that wasn’t even sexual anymore. He would do anything to get that closeness back, but he had ruined it.

Drawing his knees up to his chest, Zemo let his forehead drop against them with a pitiful little noise. He didn’t know what to do. This wasn’t supposed to happen, it was supposed to be impossible for him to– Oh, no.

He didn’t want to have something worth fighting for. The universe never let him die, there was no question that he would lose it all. Again. He couldn’t survive it a second time, but he knew fate would reanimate his rotting corpse and force him to keep going anyway. If he were to lose James, then… Zemo shook violently despite the steam fogging up the room. Something archaic hidden deep in his instincts cried out in grief, making him clamp his hand over his scent gland until his fingernails were digging painfully into the skin. For a moment, he imagined the scent of blackberry tea enveloping him. That it was teeth at his neck, that vibranium fingers were cradling the back of his head. It should be repulsive, and maybe it was, but he craved it anyway. A sob came dangerously close to escaping him. This fantasy was as torturous as it was dangerous. Zemo ripped himself free of the fantasy and struggled to his feet to finish cleaning himself up. He wouldn’t be dirty and pitiful.

When he finally emerged from the bathroom, dressed in one of his robes and with bandages wrapped around his wrists, the hallway was empty and dark. There was a concentration of blackberry tea right outside the door, but it was going stale. Judging by the proximity of their scents, the two alphas were still in the house, but were steering clear of him. Zemo supposed he was grateful for that. Still, it… stung.

He made it as far as the stairs before he stopped short. Warm light streamed down to just in front of his feet, coaxing him closer, but the thought of having to climb up to get to his room was excruciating. Besides, the movements and hushed voices of his… packmates, were up there. He didn’t belong in that picture. Zemo turned on his heel, keeping one hand braced on the wall as he made his way to the couch. It was stiff and cheap, and placed almost squarely in the middle of the darkened room, but it would have to do. He curled up as tightly as possible in one corner of the couch. His back was to the room, making him even more exposed than he already was, but he was too exhausted to care anymore. Sam and James’ voices drifted down the stairs and teased at his senses, near enough to feel but too far to have. He sighed, throwing his arm over his face. The head injury was turning him into a weepy mess. Sleep, at least, was quick to claim him, but it wasn’t meant to last.

It couldn’t have been more than three hours later when a soft utterance of his name woke him. His brain caught up with his body in an aching, fumbling, trudge. When Zemo got enough awareness to process sensory input, he recognized Sam.

“What’s your name, date of birth, and current location?” The alpha asked, curtly. Zemo groaned and buried his face into the scratchy cushion. “Go away, Samuel.”

An authoritative flare of cedarwood, lacking in its usual softening touch of jasmine, had the hair on Zemo’s arms standing on end.  “Answer me, or I’m dragging you to a hospital and dumping you there.” The threat was quite empty, considering an alpha like Sam would have a very hard time with abandoning his responsibility like that. Still, the steel in his tone had Zemo pushing himself into a seated position. Sam was standing with his arms crossed, carrying a blanket. He must be getting ready to sleep himself. After swallowing against a spot of nausea, Zemo recited the answers to all his questions. He’d hoped that would be the end of it, but Sam didn’t move. “You put yourself and your team in danger with your little stunt today, and I seriously thought we were past that. So, why?”

“Maybe it’s my time of the month,” Zemo drawled, evasively.

Sam’s eye twitched, and quick as lightning, he snatched a hold of Zemo’s face. Hard enough to command his absolute attention, but not enough to leave even a whisper of pain. It was an incredible exercise in self-control that kept Zemo from tumbling headfirst into a panic attack. “Enough with the bullshit. Bucky is clearly hung up on you. Your behavior impacts his, and I will not, under any circumstance, have you fucking with someone I love.”

Had the situation been different, Zemo might’ve gone weak in the knees. As it was, he struggled to hold enough air to talk. The memories of what, exactly, had happened right before he was knocked out were blurry at best, but he now had a pretty good idea of what had motivated him. “You’ve just answered your own question,” he mumbled. Sam’s frown softened into something almost sympathetic when he couldn’t detect any lies in Zemo’s words. “You did it for him,” he concluded, his grip much gentler now. He could’ve pulled away, but he didn’t, and Zemo was privately grateful for it.

“Of course I did.” James’ fixation was troublesome, but it was just that. A fixation. Zemo was the omega he spent the most time with, and they had history. It was hormones and instinct, and removing himself was the only way to let James move on to a mate worthy of him. Their… encounter didn’t mean anything. Zemo’s ill-timed longing was the same thing. Hormones. Instinct. Meaningless. He resolutely ignored how much that thought pained him. “I know how alphas are, I was married to one. I wanted to spare him.” And myself. He’d failed at that. Miserably.

Sam pressed his lips into a tight line. “Well, that was a stupid fucking way to go about it.” He gave Zemo’s cheeks a squeeze to drive his point home, before drawing his hand back. He stood tall and loomed over where Zemo sat straight-backed on the couch. All softness was gone from his demeanor. “Never,” he paused, putting emphasis on that word, “Upset him like this, ever again.”

Perhaps it was a symptom of his budding insanity, but Zemo felt like he’d passed some sort of test. He nodded his head, only to immediately hiss in pain. Sam let out a chastising huff. “I’ll be back to check on you in a couple hours.” Whatever Zemo had been about to say died in his throat when soft fleece fell over his head. He sat completely still as Sam’s footsteps retreated up the stairs, taking several long minutes to finally grasp the fabric in his hand. Pulling it off, he let it pile up in his lap. It was soft, and red. It smelled of both James and Sam, like they’d been sharing it between themselves for a long time. His hesitation didn’t hold out long against the over-powering need. Zemo pressed the blanket to his face and shuddered with the relief of not being all alone anymore.

The following week was an exercise in patience. Zemo was ordered to be at bed rest until his concussion healed, which meant he was stuck on the damned couch with his growing pile of pillows and his red blanket. He was well enough to brave the stairs by the second day, so whenever Sam wasn’t looking and James was not there, he ventured upstairs to steal anything soft he could find. Preferably saturated with James’ scent. The man himself, however, he avoided like the plague. Darted around him to escape whatever room he’d entered, ignored his stilted attempts at conversation. Hell, he refused to even look at him. Zemo had no idea how the fuck to face him, and frankly, he was terrified.  It meant nothing, he reminded himself firmly. None of it meant anything. It couldn’t…

He was just emerging from the kitchen when he heard James’ light gait coming down the hall. He froze, his only escape into the living room now blocked. All that was left was the back door, but that was locked, and Zemo didn’t have time to pick the lock. James paused just beyond the corner, right by the living room entrance. “The hell…?” He said, his voice carrying down the hall to Zemo’s ears. For a split second he thought he’d gotten an out, if James went in to reclaim all his stolen property. But that hope shattered when the alpha’s pace doubled, and he marched into the kitchen with a thundercloud over his head. It felt like forever since he’d basked in the full glory of James’ beautiful face and body. Zemo swallowed thickly, while keeping a subtle eye on the doorway.

“Hey,” James said, low and commanding. He was moving away from the door; Zemo just needed him a little bit closer– Fuck. His scent, fresh and close and full of his irritated mood, hit Zemo like a sledgehammer. It always had an effect on him, and it had reduced him to a sopping disaster in that basement, but this was different. “We need to talk.”

No. Absolutely not. Zemo needed out of this room before his body gave him away any more than it already had. If this was pre-heat, then it wouldn’t be long before it became extremely noticeable to the alphas around him. He could not be anywhere near James when that happened. Not only would it lead to inevitable tragedy, but it would also be wretched. Zemo didn’t want to be seen that way, desperate and feverish and begging. Weak.

“Not now, James,” he ground out without looking up from the floor. God, he hadn’t experienced a heat since his very first one after presenting. Decades of suppressant use meant he was in for a nightmare. James did not take his rejection well. His scent flared and he took a threatening step closer. “Yes, now. You’ve been avoiding me, and I’m owed some fucking answers from you,” Keeping his face straight was the fight of his life, now that his most forbidden desire was right in front of him. Zemo held his breath and waited; his every muscle taut in preparation for his escape. “Have you considered taking the hint?”

“Oh, fuck off!” Full blown anger burst out into James’ scent, sending burnt notes through the sweetness. Zemo’s stomach clenched with an incoming arousal that he could not keep quiet for much longer. In his frustration, James got careless, putting just enough space between himself and the path to the door. Zemo didn’t stop to think, he was off like a shot, just barely skirting past the vibranium fingers reaching for him. He sprinted down the hall and flung the bathroom door open, all but falling into the room and throwing himself up against the wood to close and lock it. A click had just barely sounded when James rattled the handle.

Zemo’s chest heaved with his labored breathing while his heart beat hard enough he was worried it’d break through his ribcage. He heard James’ harsh breathing right outside, separated only by a thin piece of wood he could break like a toothpick. A not-insignificant part of Zemo wanted him to. Let the alpha rip the door from its hinges and devour his omega right there on the floor.

A heated flush crept into his face, and Zemo bit down hard on his bottom lip to contain a needy whine. This was not going to end well for him.

He’d been right. This was horrific. Barely four hours had gone by: James had left in a huff at some point, growling out something about dropping off Sam for a meeting with their superiors. Zemo had dragged his shivering body back to the couch – his nest – and collapsed there. He’d prayed that maybe it would be a slow heat, a mild one, since some omegas reported that their cycle took a while before its full effect was back. The universe must have had a good laugh at his expense. He groaned, rolling around in another doomed attempt to get comfortable. He was burning up, sweating through all his clothes like it was Madripoor in the middle of July. And it hurt. The pain had started about an hour ago, a deep, unrelenting ache in his core that he only found a slight reprieve from by shoving his face into James’ stolen things. Tears burst from his eyes as another cramp seized him. Slick was sticking to his legs, and it just kept coming. There was no release, he’d tried. Rutting against the pillows until he came with a sob didn’t help at all. Everything was spinning completely out of control and the only way to stop it was for someone– for James– Oh, god.

The heat had cascaded over him so fast he hadn’t even had time to prepare. He had no water, and dehydration was already starting to make him even sicker than he already was. Maybe he could get some now, while he still… While he could still… Think.

With the red blanket tucked over his head and shoulders, he staggered down the hall. Tears blurred his vision as he dragged his aching body toward… Wait, where was he going? He couldn’t…

Water. That was it. Zemo made it into the kitchen but gave up on reaching for the cabinets. They were too tall. His hand smacked against the faucet hard enough it hurt, but he didn’t care. Water rushed out, and he dove for it like a man dying of thirst. Lukewarm as it was, it was the best thing he’d ever fucking had. Liquid slipped past the corners of his mouth and down his neck in glistening strips, blessedly cool against the fever. Zemo even had a bit of clarity again. It was just enough to register the sound of the front door opening. A cold draft carried the unmistakable scent of a furious alpha right to the omega’s over-sensitive nose.

The dive to New York City was awkward, with a tense silence between him and Sam. His friend could tell he was angry, Bucky’s uneasy scent was permeating the car so badly that Sam rolled down the window to get some fresh air despite the cold winter night. As they drove through Holland tunnel Sam suddenly turned to Bucky with a serious look on his face.

“Are you in love with him?”

Bucky was taken aback and decided to play coy.

“In love with who?”

Sam scoffed in annoyance and snapped out.

“Zemo, obviously!”

Bucky was silent for a long moment, knowing the jig was up. It was hard to hide things from the new Captain America. He shifted in his seat and sighed deeply in resignation before answering.

“Yeah, you got me.”

Sam’s scent spiked and Bucky knew he was in for a lecture.

“How can you be in love with him of all people? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

Bucky felt anger rush through him, making his chest feel tight and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from blurting out something rude. Of course, he knew that letting his heart choose Baron Helmut Zemo as a mate was a strange decision. But it wasn’t like he had much control over who he was attracted to. Zemo’s body called to him with its sweet scent and the younger man’s heart called out to him through the way they had bonded while working together. Zemo was lonely and in need of a companion and so was Bucky. They were compatible despite their complicated past. Ever since the incident last week Bucky’s feelings had cemented themselves and become something tangible and real. Mating with Zemo had been a revelation and only served to increase his desire for the younger man. Bucky wanted to claim him as his own and was sure that was their destiny. To be bonded and make their life together. But then the thoughts of doubt crept in and made things difficult. Sam was right; Zemo was a dangerous man to be in love with. He spent most of his time being imprisoned on the Raft and the rest of his time was spent engaging in missions that might take his life at any moment. A relationship with Zemo could end in heartbreak and abandonment. But Bucky was willing to take that chance. What else did he have other than the fantasy that he could have the person he wanted.

“I know Sam, I know what you think, and I have thought about it myself. It’s crazy and taking a huge risk to want someone like Zemo. But I’ve made up my mind.”

Sam made a disapproving noise and crossed his well-defined arms and sat in sullen silence for a few more minutes as they drove into New York City. The bright lights of the city hurt Bucky’s sensitive eyes, and the mixed smells of millions of people were an overwhelming cacophony of scents. Even though Bucky had grown up in the city and was familiar with life surrounded by other people, it was still a bit too much for him to handle after spending time in the suburbs. Bucky and Sam rode in tense silence until Bucky entered Manhattan and approached the skyscraper that housed the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D. Bucky parked the car in a red zone on the sidewalk and looked over at Sam.

“I appreciate that you care, but I know what I’m doing.”

Sam frowned back at him and made a grumbling noise deep in his throat. Bucky knew this was his thinking noise and it brought a small smile to his lips. Then Sam shrugged and told him.

“Just be careful man, I might have to kill Zemo if he hurts you.”

Bucky laughed and Sam playfully punched him in his right bicep before he nodded his head and got out of the car. Bucky moved to put the car back in drive and Sam leaned over the open door.

“Don’t worry about picking me back up. I’ll get Ross to take me back or some shit.”

Bucky nodded and then Sam slammed the car door shut and he watched his friend walk to the entrance of the building. Bucky, ever a guard dog needed to watch Sam until he knew that he was safe. Once Sam disappeared past the large glass doors Bucky drove off into the neon night.

The drive back to the safehouse in Jersey is morose. Bucky’s temporarily lifted mood descends back into melancholy as all he can do is think about Zemo as the miles pass by. The baron has been ignoring him and avoiding him as much as possible. When Bucky did see him, any attempt he made at conversation was rebuked. It hurt like hell to be so cut off from Zemo when the other man was all he could think about. Zemo haunted him day and night. Not even sleep was a reprieve as his dreams were saturated with memories of mating with him. The days were worse, any time he caught a whiff of Zemo’s scent or stole a glance at his lovely face his mind was thrown back to that night. To the way Zemo’s body felt, his thick scent, the way he sighed and moaned and cried for more. The way his sweet pussy rippled around Bucky’s cock and milked his knot. It was maddening to be confronted constantly with what he so desired but was so far from having. The fact that Zemo was currently shunning him caused him much doubt though. He didn’t fully understand why Zemo was angry with him and the only thing he could come up with was that Zemo had not enjoyed their encounter the way Bucky had. This thought was chilling. To think that Bucky had committed the sin of forcing himself on someone else, again, when he had sworn to never do such a thing, was heartbreaking. But then he would remember the feel of Zemo’s rough grip in his hair and the way he had commanded Bucky during the encounter. The younger man’s harsh words and cold demeanor afterwards. He was confused as to who was the one being coerced. In a way they both had been due to the overwhelming instincts of their cursed biology. Their designations determined how they acted. The domineering Alpha and the meek Omega. Although Zemo was anything but meek and Bucky had no true desire to be domineering. But they were locked into societal expectations, molds and forms that were hard to crack. But then again, the two of them had broken their molds before and survived. Perhaps they were beyond such things now.

Bucky pondered all this as he drove, but it did nothing to relax his mood. In fact, he grew more and more agitated the closer he got to the safehouse. He just wanted Zemo to talk to him, to pay attention to him. He wanted to bathe in his omega’s scent and openly admire him. But he wanted more than that. Bucky wanted to touch him and kiss him, wanted to knot him and breed pups in his belly. Wanted desperately to bite Zemo’s neck and claim him forever. Such thoughts were ridiculous, he knew. But that was what his heart wanted, and Zemo was getting in the way of that. The other man was stubborn as hell, and it agitated him to no avail. How was he supposed to overcome this misunderstanding between them if Zemo wouldn’t even talk to him?

By the time he was driving down the street their safehouse was on, he was wound up tighter than a coil and had come to the decision that he just had to confront Zemo and make him open up to him. He knew that the other man cared for him. He couldn’t accept a reality in which Zemo didn’t. But he was sure if he just pushed a little harder that Zemo would relent with this stupid game he was playing and fall into his arms. Bucky pulled into the driveway and parked the car. He turned off the engine and sat for a long moment, just listening to the ticking as it cooled down. His mind was roaring, and his chest was tight. His scent spiked in the confines of the car and Bucky wrinkled his noise at its stench, feeling disgusted. It was no wonder that Zemo was rejecting him. He’s just another dumb alpha who can’t control himself and thinks only of knotting and Zemo has made it known in the past just what he thought about that.

After about five minutes of sitting in the rapidly chilling car and marinating in his agitated scent he tried to hype himself up to confront Zemo. He pushed the car door open, and the freezing winter air washed over him and soothed his overheated skin. He briskly stomped his way through the snow to the front door and took one last deep breath and puffed out his chest as he told himself to remain firm and show Zemo what a true alpha he really was.

Bucky opened the door and walked into the warm house and instantly he was hit with the sweet scent of pine and bergamot. But this time there was an extra layer to Zemo’s scent, the spicy, honeyed tang of an omega in heat.

Bucky stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath in to savor Zemo’s scent. Its thick sweetness wrapped around him like a warm cloak and muddled his head. He was not surprised that Zemo had gone into heat. Being bred after such a long abstinence was bound to trigger Zemo’s body’s natural cycles. But now here he was, alone in the house with Zemo, due to be unbothered by Sam for hours. It was too much of a temptation to resist and Bucky was only a man, despite his enhancements. His sensitive ears picked up the sound of rustling coming from the kitchen and he followed the noises as if in a dream. When he walked through the kitchen entranceway, he saw Zemo standing by the running sink. He was wet, sparklets of water clinging to his red lips and running in rivulets down his chin and throat into the V-neck of his azure blue, silk robe. Zemo’s eyes were wide in alarm and his scent thickened with the tinge of panic. But overpowering it all was the scent of his arousal, bright like a beacon in the dark. Without a word Bucky rushed over to him and grabbed Zemo up in his arms. The other man let of a squeak of alarm, but Bucky ignored it and pressed his lips to Zemo’s in a desperate kiss. The baron went still with shock for a moment and didn’t kiss back. Bucky’s heart sank and he was about to pull away when Zemo shoved him hard in the chest and shouted.

“Get off me!”

Bucky was forced to take a step back and before he knew it Zemo had reached out and slapped him across the face, hard. He was stunned and remained in the place for a long moment and then looked up at Zemo and raised a hand to his burning cheek.

“Zemo?”

Bucky was confused. He thought Zemo wanted him, the other’s scent and body told him so. But Zemo was reacting with such harshness. Zemo’s amber eyes were full of regret and fear. Fear of what Bucky didn’t quite understand. Zemo’s cheeks were flushed, and sweat was dripping down his temples and wetting his mussed hair. His chest heaved as he panted in rising panic and his wide eyes welled with tears. Bucky reached out to him and Zemo recoiled and put his hands up to hide his face as a sob stuttered in his chest. Then Zemo bolted past him and ran out of the kitchen. Bucky didn’t think twice, just gave chase and ran out to stop him. He caught up to Zemo at the threshold of the living room and struck his hand out to grab his arm. The sudden stop of momentum caused Zemo to swing wildly and slam into the wall. The hung pictures on the wall rattled with the impact and Zemo gasped in pain. Bucky was on him in an instant and pressed his body over Zemo’s, shoving him hard into the wall, trapping the omega. Zemo whimpered and panted harshly and refused to look Bucky in the eyes as he leaned close and whispered into Zemo’s ear.

“You’re in heat.”

Zemo snarled out.

“Obviously!”

Zemo started to wiggle in his grasp and push against him and Bucky felt a sharp annoyance flare up in his chest. He pressed closer and the heat of Zemo’s body leeched into his clothes and made him feel like he was on fire. His cock was already hard and leaking and he bucked his hips to allow Zemo to feel his arousal. Zemo gasped and arched his neck, closing his eyes tightly shut as he trembled under Bucky. It was obvious that Zemo was primed to breed, and Bucky scented the air with an open mouth and tasted his heavy pheromones. Zemo’s taunt, arched throat called to him and Bucky leaned in and pressed his lips to Zemo’s scent gland in a reverent kiss. Zemo thrashed harder and Bucky had to fight the urge to bite down to still him. Instead, he growled out in annoyance.

“Why are you fighting me?”

Zemo shoved hard on Bucky’s chest and snarled out through gritted teeth.

“Because I don’t want this!”

Bucky pondered that for a moment. Everything that had happened between them recently told him that maybe Zemo really didn’t want him. The coldness after their tryst, the ignoring him and Zemo’s refusal to talk to him. But Zemo’s body and scent told another story. The way Zemo’s body had fit his cock so perfectly, the way he had trembled and come while stuffed full of it. It had been too good to be a fantasy of affection. Bucky hummed in contemplation and reached down his right hand to skim the edges of Zemo’s blue robe. He watched Zemo’s eyes, as he burrowed his fingers under the silk and skimmed them up his thick thigh to his crotch. Zemo’s skin was hot under his fingers and as smooth as the silk he was wearing, but he was damp with slick. Bucky felt a thrill of desire as he reached up and found Zemo’s cute, petite cock flushed hard. He danced his fingers across it and watched in satisfaction as Zemo’s honey eyes dilated, black overtaking the brown. Zemo put more effort into resisting him as Bucky reached his hand lower until he touched the heat of Zemo’s mound. He pressed down hard on the supple flesh and let his pointer finger sink between the folds of Zemo’s engorged lips. It was so hot and wet, and Bucky shuddered with the lust that roared through him like wildfire. Bucky quickly found Zemo’s clit and pressed down on it and Zemo cried out and went limp in his grasp. Bucky couldn’t help the self-satisfied smirk that turned his lips upwards, and he pressed his stubbly cheek to Zemo’s smooth one and told him.

“Your body doesn’t lie, Omega.”

Before Zemo could react to his words, he roughly shoved two fingers up Zemo’s sopping wet cunt. The other man reacted like he had been electrocuted and his body jolted so hard that he forced Bucky’s fingers deeper. The scent of pine flushed the air so thickly that Bucky’s head swam. He was starting to lose his wits like he had before, when he had been so overwhelmed with lust that he had lost all control. But he forced himself to stay alert as he pumped his fingers inside Zemo. The other man’s inner walls clamped down hard and then fluttered around him and Zemo moaned breathlessly and let his body hang limply in Bucky’s grasp. He leaned into Zemo’s neck but forced himself to move to the other side of it, away from his tempting scent gland that was flushed and swollen. Bucky started to mouth kisses up and down Zemo’s neck and the smaller man whimpered and bucked his hips as Bucky thrust his fingers inside his needy cunt. Bucky was panting as his lust kept climbing higher and higher with every soft sigh and warm clench of inner walls that Zemo’s body gave. He was drunk on Zemo’s woodsy scent and enticing heat. Zemo moaned brokenly and he quivered in Bucky’s arms as his legs threatened to give out. Bucky wrapped his vibranium arm around his waist and held him up easily as he increased the pumping motions of his hand. Zemo looked up at him through his thick eyelashes and groaned out.

“James…please…”

 Bucky didn’t know for what he was pleading. But he decided that Zemo was asking him for more stimulation and he hunched over and nosed into the folds of Zemo’s robe until he found a pert nipple and took it into his mouth and gave it a good hard suck. Zemo cried out in pleasure and thrust out his chest as Bucky lavished his nipples with attention. Licking and sucking them until they were flushed pink, and throbbing with heat. Zemo had such nice plump tits and the thought of them swollen with milk for their pups flashed through his mind and Bucky groaned into Zemo’s skin in sorrow for the thought. Even though they were fucking, it didn’t mean that Zemo belonged to him, it didn’t mean they were mates. Although that was what Bucky deeply wanted for them.

He tried to push the thought away as he kissed his way back up Zemo’s chest to his taunt throat. He gave a rather rough shove of his fingers into Zemo’s pussy and the man shuddered and cried out. Zemo raised his hands to rest on top of Bucky’s shoulders and tightly wound his fingers in the red cloth of his Henley. He looked straight into Bucky’s eyes and his own were crinkled with worry. Zemo looked overwhelmed, but so beautiful that Bucky couldn’t help but lean in and press his lips to Zemo’s. This time the younger man relented and opened his mouth with a gasp. Bucky let his tongue snake out and dip into Zemo’s panting mouth. The baron whimpered but accepted the intrusion. Bucky moaned and pressed forward more aggressively, his tongue thrusting into Zemo just as he added a third finger into his warm, wet cunt. Zemo gripped his shoulders tighter and tilted his head just right to get the best angle for Bucky’s questing tongue. Bucky was in heaven as their kiss ramped up in fervor. Zemo had denied him a kiss before when they had mated. But now the baron was limber and welcoming, and Bucky could die at this moment and feel satisfied. Bucky thrust his fingers into Zemo with so much force that it lifted the man to his tippytoes, and Zemo mewled and shuddered as he came. Bucky pulled back from his mouth to watch the play of emotions on Zemo’s face as he rode out his orgasm. There was bliss there, but also pain and Bucky felt a twinge of fear in his heart. Was he forcing all this on a man who didn’t want him? But then Zemo trembled, and his inner walls fluttered as he moaned out.

“Jamesss…”

There was so much passion in Zemo’s tone that Bucky’s resolve hardened, and he was sure he was doing the right thing. Zemo was a stubborn man and needed to be pushed to admit his feelings. It was the only way they would make any progress together. Bucky felt renewed vigor and gently pulled his fingers out of Zemo’s wet, flushed pussy. His fingers were dripping with Zemo’s slick, and he brought them up to his face and took in the scent of pine and bergamot. He groaned as the smell made his cock throb in his jeans and gush out precome. He was desperate to breed Zemo, and he took his fingers between his plump lips and sucked the tangy juices off them with a moan. Bucky shuddered with want and Zemo gasped and clung to him tighter as his eyes blew even blacker. Bucky smirked smugly and then lifted Zemo into his arms and held him bridal style. The baron yelped in surprise but clung to his shoulders anyway as Bucky walked him over to the couch in the middle of the room. Zemo had obviously made his nest here and Bucky smiled fondly at the sight of items of his own clothing in the pile of pillows and blankets. The whole couch and it contents were saturated with Zemo’s heat scent, and it made Bucky light-headed as he laid Zemo down on the couch in the middle of the nest. Zemo was pouting and avoiding his gaze as Bucky kneeled on the couch and leaned over him. He was so enamored with the sight of Zemo laid out in his nest, just waiting to be ravished. Bucky leaned closer and sighed out.

“God, I want you so much.”

Zemo looked guilty and turned his face away as he grumpily murmured.

“Well, I don’t want you.”

Bucky could only laugh as he picked up one of his shirts from the nest and held it up in Zemo’s face.

“Oh, really?”

Zemo flushed with embarrassment and pouted, looking away. Bucky felt sympathy warm his heart. It was obviously hard for Zemo to admit his feelings. He could understand why though. Zemo had lost his mate in the past and was probably afraid to let anyone else in. Bucky could relate. He had only ever let one person into his heart and that person had abandoned him. He could understand Zemo’s hesitancy. He leaned down and pressed his forehead to Zemo’s and whispered.

“Please, tell me what you’re thinking. I can’t stand your silence, it’s unnatural for you.”

Bucky pulled back and looked down at Zemo expectantly. The smaller man was quiet for a long moment and then he took a deep sigh and met Bucky’s gaze.

“You are nothing but a dream.” Zemo finally said. He was quiet and dejected, though the fever was less excruciating with James there like a cool breeze to offset it. “None of this is real.” He resisted the urge to close his eyes. Something told him the alpha wouldn’t approve of that. “It can’t be real. I’m just– I am hormonal, and so are you. It– Mmnh.”

A tremor was starting to work its way through his core again and Zemo fought to catch his breath around a cramp. James was too close not to notice. “If this isn’t real,” he said, softly. “Then why do you lean on me when you’re hurting? Why do you trust me?” He slid his hands down Zemo’s sides before caressing his stomach, going in soothing circles over where the omega’s uterus was contorting itself inside his body. A simple touch didn’t take the pain away, but it was pathetic how badly he wanted to cry just from that small gesture of comfort.

“If I’m not real,” James continued, nudging their noses together. “Then explain why you’re fighting so hard to convince yourself you can’t see me.”

His thoughts were turning into sludge as the brief reprieve gifted by James’ fingers dissipated. “Don’t make me think,” he pleaded, but he only got a stony look in return. Tears stung in his eyes as another cramp overtook him and set every over-sensitive nerve on fire. Zemo was so warm; his brain was cooking inside his skull. “Please,” he wheezed. “I can’t, I can’t.”

He was silenced by a nip just beneath his jaw that nearly had him blacking out. “Use your words,” James said, low and commanding.

Zemo turned his head and buried his face in a pillow in a frantic bid to shield his crumbling dignity. He recalled what his captor had said, what James had just repeated.

“Your body doesn’t lie, Omega.”

His mind and body were in a never-ending conflict with one another, but right at this moment, they had never been more united. “It hurts,” he sobbed.

“I know,” James murmured. He got an unyielding grip in Zemo’s hair, pulling his head back despite his pathetic protests. His blue eyes were resolute, like this was difficult to witness and the last spark of sanity left the omega’s pain detached brain. “Talk to me, and I’ll take it all away.”

“I’m not…” Zemo struggled to get his tongue to cooperate with him. He was going to die if he didn’t get released from this soon, it was overwhelming to the point where no other fate made sense. “I’m not worthy of you. Anyone else would be better, but you refuse to see it. I don’t…I hurt you, I keep hurting you.” He took a shuddering, ineffective breath to conclude his slurred rant. “I can live with everything else, but not that.”

He stared up at James through his wet lashes and willed him to understand, begged him to finish what they started now and then leave, for his own sake. Yet, the alpha remained where he was, blinking slowly like he had all the patience in the world. “This is cruel,” Zemo said, voice thick with tears. His vision was so blurry he could hardly make out James’ features anymore. “What else… What do you want from me?”

“For you to admit that our first time meant something.” The alpha’s scent was hot with his arousal, and it was agony to have it so close while being refused the relief it promised. “For you to stop acting like you know what the fuck I’m worthy of.”

“But, I…”

“You might hurt me, and I might hurt you. That’s what you get for being human.” His eyes blazed with passion and Zemo whimpered as another gush of slick pooled between his legs. “But you can’t just run away from good things on the off chance that it might go south. We both know there isn’t enough time for that.” The omega’s heart was pounding in his chest. His head was swimming in a suffocating, boiling soup, and his body was a breath away from giving out entirely. He hurt, he ached, he longed, and he was so tired of...of pretending. He wanted it to stop. He’d do anything to breathe freely again.

Zemo summoned the last fleeting strength in his burning body and pushed it into his broken whisper. “It meant everything to me. I love you, and I wish I got to keep you.”

James’ eyes darkened with unabashed hunger as a satisfied purr rumbled deep in his chest. Zemo was so desperate it wrenched a moan out of him. “Now was that so hard?” He tugged the omega into a torturously languid kiss, one that dragged on like they’d just woken up from a night of mating. Zemo was going to die; he was sure of it now. James, perhaps sensing his mounting distress, pulled away with a wet smack. “You’re mine, I’m yours. Let me make it permanent.”

Oh, God. The omega was losing all control of his limbs, his legs falling open wide and his head lolling to the side. With a tongue that felt swollen in his mouth, he managed to sound out a wretched “yes” that, despite how he was coming apart, was the most honest thing he had said since being face to face with a King in Siberia.

“It meant everything to me. I love you…”

Bucky was stunned. To hear Zemo confess love to him was beyond what he’d allowed himself to wish for. He felt heat explode in his chest like fireworks lighting up the night sky. The darkness in his soul being illuminated and warmed with the glow of affection. No, not mere affection; this was something deeper and more primal. Something that called to his bones and blood like an invisible thread connecting them. The force of it tenable and fierce. This was what the ancients called the soul-bond. The thought shook Bucky to the core. He had never allowed himself to believe that such a thing could be possible for him. After an unnaturally long life without finding his mate, he had thought it a crazy dream. But here he was with his heart’s desire right in front of him and his love had been returned.

Bucky let a deeply pleased purr rumble low in his chest as he leaned over and smugly asked.

“Now, was that so hard?”

Zemo looked up at him with desperate pleading in his honey dark eyes as he moaned weakly, and Bucky pressed his lips to his mate’s and led him into a languid kiss. He tried to pour all his love and desire into the fervent meeting of their mouths. Zemo responded beautifully and melted under him. The smaller man’s body trembled, and he started to pant through their kiss and Bucky sensed his growing need when the scent in the air spiked with a fresher pine aroma. Bucky pulled away from the kiss and then licked Zemo’s sweet taste off his lips. He gazed at Zemo longingly and spoke from the heart in hushed, reverent tones.   

“You’re mine, I’m yours. Let me make it permanent.”

Zemo looked like he was losing control as he melted into the couch and let his thick thighs fall open, exposing his flushed, pink pussy, his head lolling to the side, presenting his swollen scent gland. He seemed drugged with desire but still pained as he let out a brittle hiss.

“Yesss…”

Bucky felt triumphant and couldn’t help the love-drunk smile that came to his lips. Although something about the way Zemo consented bothers him. He considers this for a moment as he leans down and presses another kiss to Zemo’s lips. The baron had a mate before, and he lost her. Maybe Zemo was just frightened to give his heart away again. He probably feared being so hurt and wounded again. Their line of work wasn’t safe, bad shit could happen at any moment. For Bucky this thought only encouraged him to want to live life and open his heart. He had seventy years of having his heart closed off and another decade stewing in sadness. Now that an opportunity for happiness was presenting itself, he was eager to grab ahold and not let go. But maybe for Zemo that danger of possible imminent demise caused him to fear being vulnerable. What if they mated for life and something terrible happened to Bucky? Zemo would be left alone – again. It was probably painful for the smaller man to think about.

Bucky pulled back from their kiss and gazed lovingly down at Zemo as he slotted himself between his welcoming thighs. The other man arched his back with a gasp when their hips met, Bucky’s erection digging into his mound. Bucky was still clothed and would remedy that soon. But first he felt he needed to reassure Zemo. He leaned over and fit his mouth against Zemo’s ear as he pulled him into his arms. He took a deep breath to steady his nervous shaking and whispered into Zemo’s ear.

“Don’t be afraid… I promise I won’t leave you. I’ll be yours forever.”

Instead of helping though, his words only seemed to upset the man and Zemo trembled in his grasp as he wrenched out a broken cry.

“That’s what she told me!”

Bucky felt taken aback by Zemo’s outburst and even more so when Zemo started to cry. He pulled back so he could see the younger man’s face and he was shocked to see tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. Zemo was a proud man, and it wasn’t like him to be so openly emotional. Bucky assumed it was the combination of the heat hormones rushing through his blood and the tender vulnerability of the moment. He hugged Zemo tighter, and the baron roughly wrapped his trembling arms around him and grabbed hold of his shoulder blades, digging his nails into his skin through his shirt. Bucky held Zemo for a long moment while the omega simply cried his eyes out. He felt his heart bleed with sympathy and cooed soothing sounds as he stroked Zemo’s back soothingly. Zemo’s trembles were calming down along with his sobbing when he suddenly cried out in pain and curled over, his hands flying to his lower stomach to cradle it. A fresh gush of slick poured out of him and wet Bucky’s jeans where their bodies were pressed together.

“James, it hurts – please.”

The naked pain in Zemo’s voice was evident as the smaller man reached down and fumbled between their bodies until his hand managed to wrap around Bucky’s cock through his jeans. Bucky couldn’t help but snap his hips forward as Zemo’s hand tightened around him and started to grope him as the baron whined out.

“I need you, James. Make me forget. I just want you to take me and make me forget the past.”

Zemo fumbled his flies open and reached into Bucky’s jeans to grab his naked prick, which gave a harsh throb and gushed out precome as Bucky moaned at his touch. Zemo’s eyes darkened further, and he started to pant as he stroked Bucky’s thick cock with an aggressive pace. Zemo pinched his eyes closed with a distressed crease between them and hurriedly mumbled.

“I want to remember only your cock inside me, not hers. I just want you.”

Bucky’s brain was melting as pleasure raced up his spine from Zemo’s touch. While the words stroked his alpha ego something fierce, they bothered him all the same. He didn’t want Zemo to forget his wife in favor of him. He wasn’t that selfish of a person. He reached down and took hold of Zemo’s wrist and stopped his movements. The other man opened his eyes in surprise and gazed up at him with a sorrowful look in their amber depths. Bucky sighed and let go of Zemo’s wrist so he could bring his hand up to cup the smaller man’s cheek comfortingly. His tone was somber as he explained.

“I don’t need, nor want, you to forget her, Zemo. She was your mate, and I know how much you loved her.”

Tears once more pooled in Zemo’s eyes and he sniffled as Bucky continued.

“You can love me and her at the same time. She’s never truly gone as long as you keep her alive in your heart.”

Zemo hiccupped and a soft sob came tumbling from his kiss swollen lips. Bucky pulled him into another hug, and he held him as Zemo rode out his emotions. When Zemo calmed Bucky let go of him and got up off the couch. He took his shirt off as Zemo watched him hungrily. The omega was starting to breathe swallow as he shifted in his nest, and his robe fell open to reveal his flushed and dripping sex. His adorable petite cock was hard and leaking pre so steadily it was running in rivulets down the turgid flesh. Bucky wanted to devour him and let out a needy growl as he kicked his boots off and then ripped his jeans down his legs. He stood before Zemo naked and realized that this was the first time. The last time they mated they were both clothed. He hadn’t had the sensual joy of feeling Zemo’s naked skin against his own as they made love. Now that was to be remedied, and excitement buzzed in his veins. He leaned over and knelt with one knee on the couch, between Zemo’s spread legs. The other man looked at him expectantly and Bucky leaned over and quickly kissed him before whispering against his mouth.

“Let me take you and keep you and I promise I can make you happy again.”

Zemo looked away sadly.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, James.”

Bucky kissed him on the cheek and then gave a worshipful kiss to each of the moles on his adorably round face as he murmured against Zemo’s blushed skin.

“I know I can keep this one…”

Bucky let his flesh hand fall to Zemo’s knee and then he ran it up the baron’s thigh in a soothing caress. Zemo sighed longingly and let himself fall back onto his nest and melt into it. Bucky’s hand kept going until he reached the heat of Zemo’s plush mound, and he cupped the soft hump of flesh in his palm and pressed up and then started to move his hand in a circular motion, massaging him. Zemo arched his back and cried out in shocked pleasure as his thighs trembled around Bucky’s arm and he smiled down at his omega with sweet fondness. All he wanted was to show Zemo how much he loved him by giving him pleasure. Bucky massaged Zemo through another orgasm and the omega whimpered and sighed his pleasure. The clean scent of pine once more refreshed in the air and Bucky felt his head go fuzzy and his dick throbbed. He couldn’t wait any longer to impale his cock into Zemo’s soft, sopping wet cunt. He moved his hand away and brought it to his face to inhale the intensity of Zemo’s scent that lingered on his slick damp skin. Zemo smelled ripe and ready to breed and Bucky let out a deep rumbling groan of desire. Zemo’s eyes widened and he growled out.

“James, I’m going to die if you don’t fuck me, now!”

Bucky laughed in delight to see his omega be his usual bossy, bratty self.

“Of course, Princess. Your wish is my command.”

Bucky moved to settle his other knee on the couch and Zemo started to shift onto his side. Bucky realized that he was getting on his hands and knees, and he reached out quickly to grab Zemo’s round hip and stop his movement. Zemo looked up at him in confusion as Bucky gently eased him on to his back.

“No, I want to breed you face to face. I want to look into your eyes when I knot you.”

Zemo’s eyes dilated even wider still, dark and fathomless and Bucky could easily get lost in their wanting depths. He reached down and took hold of Zemo’s thighs and positioned him the way he wanted him. Zemo let his head fall back onto the nest of pillows and clothes and let out a meek, reedy whine when Bucky inched forward until his cock was lined up with the omega’s opening. Zemo started to tremble as Bucky slowly pressed forward until he breached the smaller man’s body, and the tip of his thick dick slipped inside him. Zemo moaned wantonly and writhed, and Bucky had to hold down his hips as the baron tried desperately to impale himself.

“Now, now – calm down…”

Zemo whipped his head up and there was a feral look in his dark eyes as he growled through gritted teeth.

“No, James! No calm, just fucking, now!”

Bucky chuckled, but the sound got caught in his throat as Zemo clamped down around him and his body sucked him in. The younger man was quick to wrap his legs around Bucky’s waist and hold him captive as he sunk down to the hilt in his hot cunt. Bucky bottomed out with a deep growling moan and dug his fingers into Zemo’s hips hard enough to bruise. Zemo moaned throatily and bucked his hips into his touch and Bucky felt his inner walls ripple around him. He was getting overwhelmed already and they had barely started. Bucky wasted no time thrusting his hips and getting a good, smooth rhythm going. He wanted to take it slow and really savor being inside his mate in a way he didn’t get to before through the haze of the forced rut. Zemo tried to impose a faster pace as he moaned and writhed on Bucky’s cock. He applied enough pressure to Zemo’s hips to still his movement and the baron whined out in dismay. Bucky’s tone was adoring but firm as he cooed.

“Shhh…Just let me enjoy you at my own pace.”

 The commanding tone worked as Zemo went limp and relented. Bucky felt in control as he fucked his omega at his own slow rate. Pulling out and thrusting back into him in a steady and measured tempo. Zemo was obviously getting antsy as he twitched and groaned. But Bucky knew what he was doing. Knew he could get Zemo off like this. It didn’t take much longer before the timber of Zemo’s voice shifted into a deeper register as he moaned and started to shake. Bucky smirked down at him and then pulled out and rested for a short moment before plunging back in roughly. Zemo screamed and arched his back off the couch as he violently came. Zemo’s little cock jerked and spurted cum all over his shuddering stomach and his inner walls rippled and clenched tightly. Bucky felt his knot start to swell in response to witnessing his mate’s pleasure and he knew he didn’t have much longer before he reached his own peak. But he savored watching Zemo tremble and cry his way through his own climax.

“God, you’re so damn gorgeous when you come.”

Zemo smiled up at him weakly and his sweat damp hair was sticking to his forehead and falling over his eyes as he stuttered out between panting breaths.

“I thought…that I was…gorgeous... all the time…”

Bucky barked out a laugh and felt his heart stutter in his too-warm chest at Zemo’s quip. Fuck, his omega was cute! Bucky leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to lips that gasped at the change in angle.

“You are to me.”

Then he thrust deeply inside Zemo’s still grasping cunt and the other man mewled loudly, mouth open around a gasp of shocked pleasure. Bucky started rocking into Zemo’s blood-hot body and quickly established a fast rhythm that had the baron continuously crying out wantonly. His moans and whimpers were music to Bucky’s ears, and he felt his body grow intolerably hot as his cock throbbed and his knot started to swell slightly. But still, he fucked Zemo at that pace for several wonderful minutes without climaxing, desperately trying not to knot too soon. He wanted this to last. He wanted to make Zemo come as many times as he could…

Zemo was in tears by the time he shuddered through his tenth orgasm. His petite prick had long ago run dry, but his tight pussy was still flowing with juices as he came again and again on Bucky’s fat alpha cock. Oh, the marvel that was omega biology…

Bucky was near feral as he pounded into Zemo’s rippling cunt with all his fraying control. Zemo was clinging to his shoulders with clawed hands that cut half-moon marks into his skin, when the omega arched his back and tilted his head to the side and bared his flushed gland with a needy mewl. Zemo coyly caught his gaze through thick, wet lashes and smiled seductively as he lowly purred out.

“James…Alpha… Please, knot me already. I need it so badly… I want your fat knot inside me.”

Bucky near about had an out-of-body-experience with the power of lewd lust that burned like atomic fire through him and straight to his dick at Zemo’s wanton words. He growled like an animal and thrust inside Zemo’s welcoming pussy so hard that the other man lost his grip on his shoulders and his arms fell to the couch and sank into the nesting materials. Zemo looked so submissive splayed out with his arms above his head and his throat arched in welcome and open wanting for the press of Bucky’s fangs to his scent gland. For his claiming bite…

Bucky knotted so quickly he felt like his spine melted and poured out his cock as it throbbed, and he started to shoot off a huge load of cum. He groaned and growled as he collapsed into the crux of Zemo’s neck and pressed his open, panting mouth to his omega’s scent gland. His teeth were itching with burning pain as the primal call to finally claim his mate sang through his bones. He held back though with the last of his control, the last tiny bit not consumed with the feral urge to bite down until he tasted the sweet, musky oil that filled the enflamed flesh. To keep biting until he tasted the tangy salt of blood. The thought of the taste of his mate’s fluids mixing in his mouth, on his tongue, making a home in his belly so that a part of his mate was always with him filled out the rest of his knot. Zemo was writing under him as he heaved and frothed like a beast and growled into his throat. Bucky’s knot had formed outside of Zemo’s body and in the blind haze of orgasm he did as nature demanded and forced his way into Zemo’s cunt, stretching him beyond comfort but over the edge to bliss. Zemo keened loudly as his inner walls clamped down and tangled his fingers into a fuzzy, red blanket and brought it to his mouth and bit down on a wad of cotton to stifle his cries. Bucky felt a surge of alpha anger and even as he forced his way inside Zemo’s body he reached out and roughly grabbed the blanket and tossed it aside.

“No! Let me hear you cry as I breed you full of our pups.”

Zemo shuddered and whimpered as his inner walls fluttered and constricted around Bucky’s knot as he finally fit it all the way inside his omega’s tight channel. Bucky was still coming steadily and Zemo moaned at the feel of filling up with cum as his fat knot kept it in place for better fertilization. Bucky loved the idea of breeding Zemo, of making his belly full and round with his pups. Maybe, they could have a family together…

Bucky was knocked out of such thoughts when Zemo wrapped his legs tightly around him and moaned huskily.

“Alpha… My Alpha.”

Bucky shuddered as another strong throb pulsed more streams of cum out of his still hard cock. God, he was coming forever, and it was so damn good. He had never felt like this before. Never once in all his long life had sex felt this good, this right. He should have known that one taste of the baron would never be enough. He should have known his mate the moment he scented him in that Berlin prison so many years ago. The were so many regrets in his heart. But being bound to Zemo would not be one of them. Bucky felt tears burn his eyes and he burrowed his face into Zemo’s neck and panted out in desperation as he pressed his tingling fangs to Zemo’s fever hot scent gland.

“Please…Please, Helmut, I love you! Let me claim you...”

Zemo’s brain might as well be oozing out of his ears. He was full to the point of pain, and nothing stuck to his awareness beyond the weight of James’ body pressing him down, down into his nest. The words slurred against his neck were a universe away, he couldn’t have repeated them if he tried, but something buried deep in his instincts rose to attention.

Claim, it whispered to him. Allow yourself to be claimed.

Though, more urgently to whichever of his faculties still remained, three little words fluttered against his senses just enough to make his erratic heart swoon. Warmth pooled low in his belly as he wrestled with his gooey muscles to get his hand on James’ nape. It was safe here, and he never wanted to leave. He didn’t want to be cold and abandoned again, as rejected by the world as he was by himself.

He showed his neck more, and James groaned helplessly at the torturous proximity. The alpha was trembling with need, fighting every cell in his body in order to stay still. “Bite me!” Zemo heard himself beg, somewhere far away.

There was nothing, at first. Zemo shivered, the whispers of his horrible heat-pains starting again from deep in his womb, but the abrupt increase in pressure against his scent-gland froze him in place. Zemo’s breathing picked up as needle-sharp fangs pierced his skin, layer by torturous layer. “Please!” He gasped out, squirming with a mounting need that felt like it might burst through his ribcage. A sharp pain shot up his spine when James’ knot shifted inside him, and the alpha growled, shoving his hand flat against the omega’s stomach to forcibly still him. With a hard thrust of his hips, his teeth finally sank all the way down.

Zemo’s vision exploded into a white nothingness. He couldn’t hear, he couldn’t tell up from down, he couldn’t tell where his body began and ended anymore. A blissful agony burned all his senses away until all he was left with was the overpowering scent of blackberries and pine, weaving together into one entity. A space was carved into his chest for another heart to fit, and all at once, there were two lives shielded behind his brittle ribcage.

“Zemo?”

 James sounded breathless.

“Zemo. Please, just look at me.”

Without Zemo really understanding how, the image of a terrified alpha gradually came into view. Wide blue eyes stared down at him in a panic, while red stained his lips and chin in stark contrast to his blanched face. It dimly registered to the omega that James must have been calling his name for a while now. Upon making eye contact, James’s expression crumpled, and his arms nearly buckled from the force of his relief. “Oh my God,” he gasped out.

His mate’s scent was distressed. Zemo didn’t like that, it set his nerves alight, but he didn’t get a chance to do more than voice a mewled complaint. James nuzzled fervently against his neck, his cheeks, his hair and anywhere he could reach. “I thought I killed you,” he said, with a strained chuckle. The tip of his nose was stained with blood too now, from having touched the bite.

The bite.

A purr started deep in Zemo’s chest. “I’m not so easy to get rid of,” he murmured, his throat hoarse and abused. He was so… happy. Sated. The heat fever was bearable, the cramps were entirely gone, and he was still locked tight around James’ knot. For the first time in a decade, he was warm again.

James smiled, his pretty eyes crinkling at the corners. Blood stained his canines red, and it was beautiful in a way Zemo could barely articulate. “Watch out. I’ll get you eventually.”

It was Zemo’s turn to smile, and it didn’t fade even as the alpha stole a kiss, then two. His knot was gradually coming down, but it would be a while yet before moving was at all necessary. Zemo slipped into a satisfied haze while he was so delicately tended to. Scented, kissed and petted, by his alpha. His. The deprivation of such a simple pleasure had corroded him in ways he hadn’t even realized. Now that he’d been reminded of what he was missing, he was certain he could never be without it again.

When James’ heart stopped, his would too. There was immense comfort in that thought. A certainty of fate, no matter where life took him next.

“Helmut.” His name, spoken so softly Zemo almost thought he’d imagined it, pulled him from his near sleep. “You’ll always get to keep me.”

Tears stung in his eyes, and the omega sniffled, just a little. He looped his arms around his alpha’s neck and pulled him down, until his face was nuzzled in the crook of Zemo’s neck.

“Thank you,” he whispered, while a dull ache from the bite fell into perfect step with James’ pulse.

Bright morning sunlight streams in the large bay windows and right into Bucky’s eyes and wakes him. He slowly opens his eyes and blinks away his dreams. Only to find that his nighttime fantasies had been correct, Zemo lay asleep in his arms. After making love a few more times last night Bucky had wrapped the red blanket around them, and they cuddled under it and dozed off together. Now, in the harsh light of morning Bucky felt a stab of worry. What if Zemo awoke and regretted everything? Especially their newly forged mate-bond. Bucky’s eyes roved over Zemo’s sleeping face and found him peaceful and relaxed. His gaze settled on Zemo’s neck and the bite mark there. It has scabbed over nicely, Bucky’s alpha saliva helping the wound to heal quickly without infection. He let out a soft sigh of contentment and reached up to delicately brush his fingertips over the bond mark. Zemo stirred and slowly blinked open his eyes, gaze instantly settling on Bucky. He felt nervous for a moment, then Zemo smiled sweetly at him and raised a hand to cup Bucky’s cheek. He leaned into the touch with a soft sound of want and Zemo gazed up at him with clear adoration in his honey eyes as he cooed.

“Good morning, my love.”

Bucky smiled back, feeling happy and giddy with affection for Zemo. He leaned over and just as he was about to kiss him, there was a rattling of the front door handle and then the door opened and in walked Sam. His friend stopped in the entranceway when he noticed them on the couch and then he was striding forward until he was looming over them, hands on his hips.

“Ah hell nah. I leave you two alone for one night…”

Zemo smirked and chirped out.

“Good morning to you too, Samuel.”

Sam glared down at them and his gaze settled on Zemo’s neck and the bite mark there. Then his eye widened with shock, and he snapped.

“What the fuck, guys?”

Bucky sat up and the blanket slipped from his shoulders, exposing his chest. Sam looked away, obviously embarrassed and Bucky let out a soft sigh.

“It was what we both wanted, Sam.”

The captain looked down at them for a long moment, his dark eyes calculating the situation, then he groaned and shook his head.

“Just don’t let it get in the way of our missions.”

Bucky and Zemo dutifully nodded their understanding and Sam seemed satisfied as he started to walk to the kitchen, muttering his disapproval.

“Take this shit to an upstairs room. Ya’ll not gonna be messing around in the living room while I’m here.”

Then Sam disappeared into the kitchen and Bucky looked at Zemo with amusement. The other man still looked a bit groggy. He would need water and food to help him recover from his heat. Bucky wanted to be a dutiful alpha and take care of his omega. Wanted to care for Zemo the rest of his life, and now he would get the opportunity to show his mate just how much he loved him. Bucky leaned over and gave Zemo a lingering kiss that had his mate melting into his touch with a happy sigh. When Bucky pulled away Zemo looked dazed, and the omega wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him close again as he whispered.

“Better more things upstairs.”

Bucky smiled at the implication of more mating to be done to satisfy his partner, and he glanced around to make sure Sam wasn’t in view before he got off the couch and started to gather his clothes and put them back on. Zemo watched him with a heated gaze that spoke volumes for his desire and Bucky felt a zing of anticipation. He leaned over Zemo and gathered his mate in his arms and lifted him up, still swaddled in the red blanket and carried him bridal style through the living room and to the stairs. Zemo wrapped his arms around his neck to hold on as Bucky started to ascend the stairs. When he reached the top, he went straight to his room and gently laid Zemo down on the bed. His omega smiled seductively and let his legs fall open and Bucky instantly pressed his body between them. He looked down at his mate longingly as Zemo wrapped his legs around him and couldn’t believe his luck. That all these messy feelings had transformed into a solid bond between them. That a man like him could have his heart’s desire. Bucky nuzzled his face into Zemo’s neck and kissed his scabbed over scent gland with reverence and his mate sighed with pleasure and pulled him closer.

“James, I want you…”

Bucky leaned back up to press fervent kisses to Zemo’s mouth and the other man opened to him with a moan. When Bucky pulled back, he gazed at Zemo lovingly and whispered against his lips.

“You have me…forever.”

Bucky felt secure in making such a promise. For he knew he would never willingly leave Zemo’s side again.