Delirious Feral Coronel Zemo who believes he’s been captured by enemy soldiers… who in reality are Sam and Bucky, trying to help.
This prompt was brought to you by myself @sokoviantea, @sublimepigeon with input from @sholiofic
Delirious Feral Coronel Zemo who believes he’s been captured by enemy soldiers… who in reality are Sam and Bucky, trying to help.
Prompt: Zemo enters a state of delirium
Fever - injuries he’d been hiding, attempting to prolong time away from the raft. ← I’m partial to this one
Injury/drugs- Becomes delirious as a result of being drugged and injured by an enemy.
Magic- he’s trapped in a past memory, maybe he fell into a “trap” or boys were stuck dealing with a magical threat and Zemo took the hit for Bucky or Sam.
Regardless, Zemo believes he’s been captured by enemy soldiers. Possibly Hydra (the American branch of hydra) believing Sam and Bucky are enemy American Hydra soldiers.
In his mind he’s convinced he is about to be interrogated. “All Zemo knows is he’s hurting, he’s being held by American soldiers he can’t recognize in his delirium, and he is spitting furious about it” (@sokoviantea)
Q Zemo reverting to his black ops training “rabid wolverine in full black ops, civil war survivor, colonel mode”. (@sublimepigeon)
Ultimately, Bucky and Sam are forced to restrain him, resulting in several additional bruises.
- Sedation isnt an option wether because: they have none, Zemo is resistant, or giving the severity of the infection and fever.
-They also “can't just like, lock him up and leave him alone. They have to actually take care of him while he's trying to stab them, but also so out of it he can barely stand up” (@sholiofic)
“The best they can do is get him properly pinned down and immobilized so he stops being a danger to everyone and then they have to deal with 'obviously furious, distressed and plotting to murder them the moment he gets out from under Bucky's super soldier grip but at least he's not got hands free for the eye gouging.” (@sublimepigeon) At one point they decide to wrap a shirt over his head, to prevent him from biting, and maybe to calm him (it makes it worse). Being restrained (with what he assumes is a bag over his head) has him convinced he'd been captured by the enemy. The pain he’s feeling (Sam treating his injuries (infected injuries), cleaning and suturing the wounds and trying to administer medication) feels like torture, and reacting accordingly he either goes quiet (limp playing dead) or starts reciting passages at them. Waiting for a lull to attack them again and get free.
Throughout all this Bucky is forced to be the one holding Zemo down, and given that Zemo believes Bucky is Hydra in this moment, it brings him beck to when he was Hydra, since once upon a time he was forced to hold people down to be tortured for Hydra.
Throughout it all Sam is focused, explaining what he’s doing to Zemo as he works. He’s in emergency medical professional mode. He’ll do his freaking out after the job is done (like a professional thank you very much)
Ultimately, the boys take away from the experience that Zemo is terrifying in survival mode, and his behavior with them compared to his behavior to an enemy, "welp so it turns out you do like us because HOLY SHIT WHEN YOU DON'T LIKE SOMEONE--" (@sublimepigeon).
When Zemo returns to consciousness, he thanks the boys for rescuing him, “apologies for being a burden to the team. It will not happen again.” Only to learn he he tried to murder the boys “ah, further apologies” Q the post-recovery awkwardness / “team building”.
Zemo is preparing himself throughout his recovery to be put on an even shorter leash or returned to the raft, given his injuring of both Sam and Bucky. And becomes increasingly confused when it doesn't happen.