Ezekiel was seated on a couch in the living room of a wealthy, older looking estate hidden up in the mountains of Sokovia. Everything around him was in an older style from the 1950's or possibly before that. Sure there were some modern comforts like a TV, computer and better lights. But the fixtures and everything around them were older and well taken care of by whoever lived there.
Ezekiel sat quietly as he enjoyed the atmosphere and waited for the house to properly wake up. The first person to spot him was an older man with white hair, who glanced at him as he passed by towards the kitchen. Within a few minutes the man who was clearly the house butler came back out with a tea tray and laid it on the coffee table before he said, "Please enjoy while I inform the master he has a guest."
Ezekiel nodded and waved a finger towards the tea set a few moments later before a magic spell engulfed it. The butler had already left the room so they didn't see the spell go off or the fact it pulsed green. Ezekiel smiled at the fact the old man just tried to poison him with something that would knock him out without a second thought. Then again, he did enter the house unannounced while everyone was still sleeping.
Ezekiel cast another spell towards the tea pot before he poured a cup for himself. He wasn't a massive tea drinker like Tao or Agatha, but he never declined when it was offered… Even if it was poisoned. Ezekiel didn't need to cleanse it either, his body was so robust that no normal poison would affect him, but he was paranoid so he did it anyway.
As Ezekiel took his second drink, he felt a gun barrel press into the back of his head as a man asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Ezekiel."
"Who sent you?"
"I came by myself because we need to talk Mr. Zemo. Or would you prefer I call you Baron or perhaps Colonel Zemo instead?"
The gun pushed forward a little more with the distinct click of a hammer being cocked before the man said, "Who sent you."
"No one, I came myself. Also, that gun won't wor-"
The sound of the hammer falling and a soft click went off before Ezekiel heard the gun rack and another empty click. Another rack of the slide and another click happened before Ezekiel turned to look up and locked eyes with the brown eyed man behind him as he said, "I apologize for coming by unannounced, but I really just wish to talk."
Zemo finished clearing the chamber again and pulled the trigger to another click before he stared at Ezekiel for a few moments. Ezekiel gave the man a friendly smile as he asked, "Can we talk now, or would you like to try a different gun first?"
Zemo eyed Ezekiel for a few moments before he bent down and picked up the three bullets on the ground while Ezekiel cheekily said, "Also it's rude to pull a weapon, let alone trying to use one on a house guest."
"A house guest is someone who is invited inside by the owner." Zemo said as he moved around the couch and sat down in a chair across from Ezekiel before he racked the gun in his hand to remove the other bullet to examine it.
"Oh, that's a fair point… Unfortunately I've been hanging around some bad influences and they've seemed to have rubbed off on me."
Zemo glanced over the four bullets and their clearly indented primers with a slight frown as he also watched Ezekiel and asked, "Why're you here?"
"To talk with you… Do you know who I am?"
"I've read a few intelligence briefs about you."
Ezekiel chuckled softly before he said, "Those things were hilariously inaccurate. Then again, Sokovia's government is made up of useful puppets or…"
Ezekiel locked eyes with Zemo as he added, "Tools that don't question orders."
Zemo's eyes narrowed as he placed down the bullets in his hand and leaned back in his chair before he steepled his hands together and said, "Strong words coming from an American. Tell me, how well does your precious democracy work when the people who run your own country are basically puppets for whoever backs them?"
"Unfortunately the way things were created makes it hard to change anything already in place. I appreciate what the founding fathers tried to do, but at this point most of the government has rotted out and is just a lumbering corpse people are trying to keep alive." Ezekiel said with a helpless shrug before he added, "I'm doing what I can myself, but short of gutting the whole thing… Well I don't feel like throwing the whole world into chaos just yet."
Zemo's eyes widened a tiny fraction at Ezekiel's statement before he asked, "You plan to overthrow the US government?"
"Not overthrow, but a proper clean up. I'm already working on it. But I'm not stupid enough to do it all at once. But a few corrupt politicians, judges and other officials each year replaced with people who actually care is a good start. I'll ramp it up once I have enough people replaced that the government won't collapse when I rip out the rest. But for now, I just focus on the worst of the worst."
Zemo quietly studied Ezekiel for a few minutes before he asked, "I doubt you came here to talk politics with me… So what do you want?"
"You're wrong about that actually." Ezekiel said as he removed his tablet from the storage seal on his wrist and heard the hammer of a gun cock.
Behind him stood Zemo's white haired butler who now had a gun pointed at the back of his head. Ezekiel glanced over his shoulder and with a smirk said, "Those don't work around me."
"Then perhaps a cold weapon would work?" The butler said as a decent sized dagger appeared in his over hand from his sleeve, but before he could use it Zemo said, "Stand down for now Oeznik."
The older man de-cocked the pistol and it quickly disappeared along with the knife under his jacket as he asked, "Understood, sir. I'll go prepare breakfast now, should I make extra for your… Guest?"
"No, I doubt if he will be staying long." Zemo said as he glanced at Marcus and the tablet he was currently tapping on.
Ezekiel smiled a tiny bit as he picked up his tea cup and took a sip before he said, "True, I have other things I need to do. Plus I wouldn't want to be poisoned again, even if it didn't work the first time."
Oeznik didn't respond to the little jab as he walked out of the room towards the kitchen while Ezekiel finished working on his tablet and set it on the coffee table. A second later a holographic display popped up between Ezekiel and Zemo as he said, "I came here to discuss this with you."
Zemo glanced at the large amount of information on the screen as he said, "It looks like you do plan to discuss politics…"
"Unfortunately. But I think you'll find some very interesting things in those files." Ezekiel said as he made a gesture and the files moved in front of Zemo for him to grab.
Zemo hesitated for a moment before he reached out for the first file and it opened up for him to read. He started to quickly speed read the file and the more he read the more he started to frown. He finished the first few pages before he glanced at Ezekiel with narrowed eyes and asked, "You expect me to believe this?"
"Hopefully… If not, I can grab the people in question so you can find out all of this yourself."
Zemo went back to reading as he said, "No."
Ezekiel shrugged slightly but didn't bother Zemo as he read through a few more files before he burst into laughter and said, "You must be joking if you think I'd believe any of this."
Zemo mimicked Ezekiel and flicked the files back towards him as he said, "I might have believed some of the other things, they were even plausible… But trying to convince me that part of the Sokovian government are agents of a defunct nazi organization isn't."
Ezekiel chuckled slightly as he asked, "Are you aware of Hydra's motto?"
"No."
"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." Ezekiel said before he added, "Have you heard the phrase, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it?"
"I have, but I have no idea what that has to do with Hydra… They were destroyed during the second world war and their leader was taken down by Captain America himself if the propaganda your government spread is to be believed."
"And yet like a Hydra from legends, they ended up growing back new heads." Ezekiel pulled up more information from the holographic projections before he sent it towards Zemo and said, "Those men were all part of Hydra during the war and afterwards they were recruited by different countries. The only issue is their allegiance to Hydra never stopped and neither did Hydra itself."
Zemo looked through the information on operation paper clip and other information Ezekiel provided as he sent over another folder and added, "Hydra has been around for centuries as a hidden cult and only came out during the war because of the Red Skull. After his… Disappearance. A new leader took over and they went back into hiding as a secret cabal they had always been."
Zemo quietly read everything and after ten minutes he finally focused on Ezekiel through the holographic display and asked, "If this is true… What do you expect me to do with all of this?"
"It depends on you honestly. But if you ask me, I wouldn't mind putting you in power. You're already a baron, why not be the king instead?" Ezekiel said with a smile before he added, "From what I've gathered, you are capable, smart and will gladly bend the rules if they go against your morals. You've even secretly helped people escape the country, people you were supposed to kill."
Zemo didn't react to Ezekiel's statement, but studied him for a few moments before he asked, "Me the king? You're joking, right?"
"Nope. Do you want it or not?"
"No… It's too much responsibility, I don't want it."
"How would you feel about Sokovia becoming annexed by someone else?" Ezekiel asked testing the waters of possibly having Doom take over leadership.
"No, Sokovia should be run by our own people." Zemo quickly refused with a firm shake of his head.
"Then who would you want as a new leader?"
"I'll have to think about it…" Zemo said with a frown as Oeznik peeked in from the kitchen and asked, "Breakfast is almost ready, would you like me to grab the rest of your family now, or wait until your guest leaves, sir?"
Ezekiel stood up as he grabbed his tablet, turned off the display and said, "I'm actually going to leave, so don't worry about it."
Ezekiel opened a portal next to him as he added, "I've sent a copy of everything to your computer, along with my contact information. I'll give you a week to think it over and come up with an answer. After that I plan to start making moves, with or without your help."
Ezekiel stepped through the portal and a second after it snapped closed Zemo let out a heavy sigh as he collapsed back into his chair and said, "I need a drink Oeznik… Something strong."
"Right away, sir."