#russian mafia

[odinsblog]

Dang. Idk if anyone has ever laid out Donald Trump’s entanglement with Russia sO clearly.

If you’ve had enough of watching the Trump clowns defending Trump & white supremacy, the Sutori link is definitely worth reading. It is a very enlightening, detailed and comprehensive timeline that puts Trump’s very very long history with Russian mobsters into sharp perspective.

👉🏿 https://www.sutori.com/story/timeline-you-might-be-interested-in--pTTyLH39r7FsRtF51JZi4BVt

👉🏿 https://forensicnews.net/trump-deutsche-bank-loans-underwritten-by-russian-state-owned-bank-whistleblower-told-fbi/

[hitoshi-yuuto]

Haikyuu rich kids AU

AU where some of the characters are rich kids

They have known each other since their childhood, because they hung out in the same social circle (Rich kids)

Hinata Shouyou

- Son of the richest man in the world, makes him the second richest person in the world.

-Spoiled kid born with a diamond spoon in his mouth, Tends to spend money as if he had it infinitely (which is the case)

-He didn't have any friends when he was younger because everyone was after he's money, he created a false identity in high school and was able to have his first real friends (Karasuno)

-His language of love is giving gifts, he doesn't know how to show his love otherwise.

-He bought the Karasuno High School to donate more funds to the volleyball clubs

- Is better at volleyball than in the canon since he has been playing since he was a kid with his friends, and he pays volleyball players to teach him.

-He fell in love with Kageyama when Karasuno learned that he was rich and that Kageyama's only reaction was: All I care about are your volleyball skills.

Sakusa Kiyoomi

- Coming from a family of famous doctors/hospital directors and son of the CEO of most of the greatest pharmaceutical companies and laboratories around the world.

-He and Sachirō support each other as people who don't want to follow in their family's footsteps.

-Even if he doesn't want to become a doctor, it runs through his veins and he's very good at it.

-He and Shouyou were best friends until they were 13 years old, since then they say they hate each other but we all know it's a lie.

-When he fell in love he thought he was sick, it put all the hospitals on alert.

Komori Motoya

-Son of the mania of the restaurant and food industry in the world.

-Loves to take friends to great restaurants

-Is a fine cook

-Spend his time inviting Kiyoomi and Atsumu to great romantic restaurants.

-He is the sponsor of Onigiri miya

Semi Eita

- Son of the Emperor of Japan, his family is everywhere in Japanese politics, his father is also the owner of seven of the biggest car brands.

-One day someone annoyed him, and he got him kicked out of the country, don't annoy the next emperor.

-Surprisingly his family supports his dream of being a singer, his aunt says that it will make a great image of him when he becomes emperor.

-Spend his time mocking Shirabu saying that he is going to become his empress.

Lev Haiba

- Son and heir of the most powerful mafia in the world

- As kill someone for the first time when he was eight years old.

- When they are old enough, he and Alisa will share the mafia as co-leaders

-He lived in Russia for the first 10 years of his life, before moving to Japan to be protected from a war, then decided to stay in Japan until he was 18 years old because he liked it so much. (Help Alisa manage the Japanese branch)

- Having grown up in the mafia world his standards are very different, he will be able to talk seriously about torturing someone while smiling.

-Also better at volleyball for the same reason as Hinata

-He confessed to Yaku at graduation, he expected a rejection and then panicked when Yaku told him yes, "you had to say no I'm a mobster I've killed people!" Yaku still said yes and if seven years later he finds himself killing someone to protect Lev it's between Lev and him alone. (Lev was devastated to have let Yaku dirty hands)

Hirugami Sachirō

- Son of the most famous volleyball player, his family is filled with super famous celebrities.(Lots of actors)

- One word from him and your reputation is ruined

- He has seen, heard, and done too many things, even if the end of the world comes tomorrow, he won't blink twice.

-He has a LOT of followers on his social media

-He's the reason Hoshiumi is the most followed volleyball player on the internet.

Yahaba Shigeru

-His parents run a really popular clothing chain in Japan.

-He was not born rich, his parents became rich when he was like twelve, He was then thrown into the lion's cage that are the rich children, and he was adopted by the group of weirdos above

-Being the only one who didn't grow up from this background, he is the only one with a real conscience, if you ask him he'll say that he is a babysitter.

-Aoba johsai seriously wonder how he manages Kyoutani, Yahaba will answer that compared to the six psychopaths he is simple.

When they met

Shouyo Kiyoomi & Motoya 4/5 years old

Eita & Sachirō 8/7/6 years old

Lev 10/11/12

Shigeru 12/11/13

Sorry for the mistakes, English is not my first language 😅

[arinaolan]

« ANYONE COULD BECOME A NATIONAL HERO. BUT NOT YOU. 🦉»

[andarthas-web]

Unexpected consequences of John Wick fanfic

A short while ago, my family and I went to the local thermal baths for a day of rest and relaxation. There was a group of bulky, tough looking guys there, with tattoos. Now, seeing people with tattoos at the thermal baths or at the swimming pool is fairly normal around here, this isn't Japan after all, so nobody blinked an eye, but I'm pretty sure that most people didn't realize that these guys were sporting Russian Mafia tattoos....and given that having those if you haven't earned them can get you in big trouble, I'm fairly certain they were genuine. So yeah, there's at least one moderately high-ranking Russian Mobster (recognizable by the stars on each shoulder) who likes visiting the local thermal baths together with some of his crew. And he'll never know that I knew because of very smutty John Wick fanfic. XD XD XD

Source

[jamieees]

This is soo Taejoo and Zhenya Coded y'all 🥹🥹🌝🌝

✧｡⁠*⁠♡🐊🐇✧｡⁠*⁠♡

[hopefultigress]

If he is a red flag then I am colour blind 👩🏻‍🦯👩🏻‍🦯👩🏻‍🦯👩🏻‍🦯👩🏻‍🦯👩🏻‍🦯

[trump666traitor]

[robbiereyesangr114]

Some food for thought for Ghost Rider fans:

During ANGR, Yegor Ivanov (the mafia boss that Eli worked for) is surprised by Eli involving a Reyes into his scheme and later on when talking to Eli/Robbie seemed to respect the Reyes name and be disgusted with Eli using one of them for his resurrection.

Any ideas as what Alberto (or Juliana) could have done to be held in such high regard in the Russian Mafia?

@rokhal @cicada-candy @wazzappp @felipesmithart @goldendaydna

[dropofbittersea]

Dean Winchester is a young Omega working three jobs to support himself and his abusive, alcoholic father. His dream is to help his aunt and uncle send his brilliant little brother to college.

One of the few bright spots for him is the job he works at a burger place called Mystery Spot, a restaurant owned by four Russian brothers that Sammy and Dean joke all the time is a front for a mafia. One day, however, when a man comes in and tries to kill Dean’s favorite Krushnic brother right in front of him, the Omega is forced to admit that maybe his running joke with Sammy isn’t too far off the mark.

As Dean is thrown into the world of the Krushnic mafia, he finds himself getting closer than ever to Castiel Krushnic himself. The Alpha seems to harbor a strange soft spot for Dean, one that grows more obvious and more confusing by the day. Suddenly, Dean has to wonder why the kindest person in his life is a mafia boss, and why said mafia boss is so dead-set on taking care of him.

It’ll take a very stubborn person to convince Dean he deserves that. It’s lucky Castiel Krushnic is a very stubborn man.

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, Terry Gilliam)

03/05/2024

[odinsblog]

DONALD TRUMP: MOBBED UP AF - A RETROSPECTIVE

(by @saradannerdukic)

1970s & 1980s: wave of Russian criminals arrive in New York and begin interfacing with established American organized crime networks (La Cosa Nostra/The Five Families aka Bonanno, Genovese, Colombo, Lucchese, Gambino) (source)

1977: KGB reportedly opens file on Donald Trump (source).

1979: Construction begins on Trump Tower.  Trump purchases overpriced concrete from mafia bosses Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Paul Castellano of the Genovese and Gambino crime families (respectively). (source)

1980: Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn, introduces Donald to Roger Stone. (source)

1982: New York City Housing Commissioner Anthony Gliedman received what he described as an “abusive and profane” call from someone angry that Gliedman had opposed Trump’s request for a $20 million tax abatement. Gliedman reported the call to the FBI, saying the caller was “threatening his life.” (source)

June 3, 1983: Rudy Giuliani becomes US attorney for SDNY

January, 1984: Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov, First Chief Directorate of the KGB arm responsible for gathering foreign intelligence, urges his officers to be more creative with agent recruitment - and to use money and flattery vs. alignment with Soviet ideology.  Additionally, he gives the directive to find "U.S. targets to cultivate or, at the very least, official contacts...The main effort must be concentrated on acquiring valuable agents." (source)

1984: Russian émigré David Bogatin pays cash for five apartments in Trump Tower. (source).  Bogatin's brother ran a $150 million stock scam with Russian mafia boss Semion Mogilevich (source)

1985: Trump reportedly “apoplectic” when he loses bid to re-develop the Coliseum at Columbus Circle to Salomon Brothers-backed Mort Zuckerman. (source)  More on Trump’s proposal here.

October 1985: Trump's helicopter pilot indicted on drug trafficking charges. Trump doesn't fire him.  Instead, he leases his personally-owned unit in Trump Plaza Apartments to him with an agreement of half the rent is to be paid in cash, the other half in unspecified helicopter services.  Trump also writes a letter on behalf of his pilot (Weichselbaum), calling him "a credit to the community.”  Who does the case end up with?  Federal judge Maryanne Trump, Donald's sister. (source)

Autumn, 1986: Trump meets Soviet ambassador Yuri Dubinin.  And per Trump's own account in Art of the Deal, “One thing led to another, and now I’m talking about building a large luxury hotel, across the street from the Kremlin, in partnership with the Soviet government.” (source)

1986: Trump makes the rounds in the news offering to negotiate with the Russians (source), and also angles for a Soviet posting in the Reagan administration (source)

March 16, 1987: Bogatin (who had purchased multiple apartments in Trump Tower for cash) pleads guilty to taking part in a massive gasoline-bootlegging scheme with Russian mobsters. The government seized his five condos at Trump Tower, because he'd used them to “launder money, to shelter and hide assets.” A Senate investigation into organized crime later revealed that Bogatin was a leading figure in the Russian mob in New York. (from New Republic)

April 3, 1987: Trump excluded from bidding on Australian casino deal because of mafia connections (per Australian police) (source)

July 4, 1987: Trump flies to the USSR for the first time after being personally invited - the trip is arranged by the Soviet government (source).

1987: Trump talks extensively in an interview about nuclear bombs, and states that his pilot used to work for Qaddafi.  In the same interview, Trump describes the type of bomb he thinks will be possible in the future: "Carry it in your briefcase, right. I’m not even talking about airplanes and missiles. You’ll walk in with your damn tape recorder,” he says, pointing to my innocent Sony, “and you’ll say it’s a tape recorder and nobody will be able to tell the difference. I mean, that’s where it’s going to be in 20 years.” (source)

1988: Trump starts talking about running for president on Oprah (source).

1988: Trump purchases a yacht from Adnan Khashoggi, the uncle of Jamal Khashoggi (source) (source)

1988: American Media Inc. (AMI) comes into being after Enquirer owner Generoso Pope dies. (source)  Among the interested parties are Robert Maxwell (source), the father of Ghislaine Maxwell - Jeffrey Epstein's partner. (source).  Among the trustees of the Pope estate are Peter G. Peterson, a partner in the Blackstone Group (source) - a private equity firm founded by Steven Schwarzman (source). (More on Schwarzman and his relation to Trump here).  According to Pope's son, Paul, The Enquirer was started with a $75,000 loan from the mafia (source).

October 11, 1989: helicopter crashes with 3 Trump casino execs aboard (source).  Trump claimed he was supposed to be on it, but then changed his mind at the last minute. (source)  After their deaths, he blamed them for the failure of his Atlantic City casino (source) The helicopter's pilot was identified by the state police as Robert Kent of Ronkonkoma, L.I., and its co-pilot as Lawrence Diener of Westbury, L.I.  b/b

1990: Wall Street bond house Salomon Brothers advises institutional clients to sell bonds issue from Trump's Castle Casino in Atlantic City, due to debt and performance concerns. (source)

1991: Trump declares bankruptcy (source)

1991: Trump sells his yacht to Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal (source) (source)

December 17, 1991: Fred Trump gives Donald an interest-free loan by purchasing $3.5 million worth of casino chips at Trump Castle casino, circumventing bankruptcy rules and enabling Donald to make the interest payment due on his bonds. (source)

1992: Trump declares bankruptcy an additional 3 times stemming from various properties he's over-leveraged. (source)

1994: Trump allegedly rapes and beats a 13-year-old girl at a party with Jeffrey Epstein, multiple times.  In the filed complaint, the 13-year-old was threatened to be "disappeared" like another young girl had been if she told anyone. (source)

October 20, 1994: Christine Seymour, Roy Cohn's secretary (Cohn was Trump's mentor), who was set to publish a tell-all book, dies in head-on collision with tractor trailer (source)

1995: Trump reportedly in Moscow to discuss matters related to Okhotny Ryad underground mall on Manezh Square. (source)

The trip is also reference in this article: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/05/19/trump-solo

1995: Trump sells Plaza Hotel to Alwaleed bin Talal (source) Barbara Corcoran brokers the deal (source)

June 8, 1995: Vyacheslav Ivankov arrested (source).  Ivankov was known to be a notoriously brutal gangster in the upper echelon of the Russian mafia. (source) After having difficulty finding him, the FBI picked up his trail at Trump Taj Mahal, and then discovered that Ivankov had a luxury condo in Trump Tower. (source)  According to Robert Friedman in his book, Red Mafiya, Friedman viewed Ivankov's personal phone book containing "a working number for the Trump Organization’s Trump Tower Residence, and a Trump Organization office fax machine." (this is listed as a citation at the end of the book).  Ivankov is also mentioned in this 2003 DOJ paper on organized crime, with a forward by Bruce Ohr (pp 49).

1996: Trump goes to Russia with Howard Lorber (source).  Lorber later donated to the Trump inaugural fund (source).

1998: Trump Taj Mahal fined for currency transaction reporting violations (source)

February 1999: Evercore Capital Partners L.L.C., headed by former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger C. Altman, acquires American Media, Inc. and places David Pecker at the helm. (source)

1999: Trump's first run for president (source)

2000/2001: Mark Burnett in negotiations with Putin for a show called "Destination Mir." (source)

October 2001: AMI offices in Boca Raton are attacked with anthrax (source).  Later, in 2004, a cleaning company owned by Rudy Giuliani is contracted to clean up the anthrax, with his company, Bio-One, slated to rent/occupy the building after cleanup. (source)  The contract later ended in a feud. (source)

2002: Mark Burnett begins talks with Trump regarding The Apprentice. (source)

2002 - 2011: The Bayrock Group partners with the Trump Organization on developments including the Trump SoHo hotel (source).  Principals in the group include Felix Sater - believed to be connected with Semion Mogilevich (source) - and Tevfik Arif (source).

2004: Trump declares bankruptcy again. (source)

Spring 2004: The Apprentice debuts (source)

May 2004: Diamond dealer and former Trump Tower tenant (1 year prior he'd lived right below Kellyanne Conway) Eduard Nektalov is shot on 6th Avenue (source).  He was reportedly cooperating with federal authorities on a money laundering investigation (source)  More on money laundering and Trump properties here.

2005: at the same time Trump is unable to get a 25 million pound loan from Bank of Scotland due to being a credit risk (source), Deutsche Bank (who later is hit with massive fines for money laundering) loans Trump nearly one billion dollars. Trump's banker at Deutsche Bank is Justice Kennedy's son. (source).

2006: Felix Sater escorts the Trump children during their trip to Russia (according to Sater) (source).  Later, in emails to Michael Cohen, Sater says that he'd arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putin's chair. (source).

2006: Paul Manafort buys unit in Trump Tower (source).

2006 - 2009: Trump makes multiple attempts (and fails) to get a loan from the Bank of Scotland to purchase Hamilton Hall.  The bank executive "expressed concern that Trump would hold the bank to 'future ransom'” (source)

2007 - 2016: Buyers tied to Russia make 86 cash purchases at Trump properties. (source)

2008: Soviet-born (Moldovia) Orly Taitz helps bring suit regarding Obama's citizenship/birth certificate. (source)

2008: Junior brags that they're getting a lot of money from Russia. (source)

2008: Russian oligarch buys a Palm Beach mansion from Trump, paying twice the value (source).

August 27, 2008: a small-time scam artist transfers a Beverly Hills, California, mansion to Donald Trump for $0. (source)

November 2008: Unable to meet his obligations for the nearly 1 billion dollar loan they gave him, Trump sues Deutsche Bank saying he shouldn't have to make good on his promise because of the economic crash. (source)

2009: Trump declares bankruptcy again. (source)

2009: a lawyer representing Trump Atlantic City casino creditors says he got threatening phone calls. The FBI traced one of them to a payphone outside the “Late Show With David Letterman,” where Trump was appearing.

“My name is Carmine,” the caller told the lawyer, Kristopher Hansen. “I don’t know why you’re fucking with Mr. Trump but if you keep fucking with Mr. Trump, we know where you live and we’re going to your house for your wife and kids.” (source)

July 23, 2009: Stormy Daniels' political advisor's car explodes (source).  This was approximately 3 years after her affair with Trump (source).

August 2009: After multiple tries dating back to 2006, Trump denied a final time for loan for 25 million pounds from Bank of Scotland because the bank considered it "too risky." (source)

2010: Tevfik Arif, a principal of the Bayrock Group - which at this time is partnering with the Trump organization on a variety of projects - is arrested in a Turkish prostitution sting. (source).  Charges were later dropped by Turkish authorities.

July 25, 2011: President Obama issues executive order declaring organized crime a national security emergency. (source)

2011 - 2015: Deutsche Bank, who 5 years previous had given Donald Trump nearly 1 billion dollars when Bank of Scotland wouldn't loan him 25 million pounds, is laundering billions of dollars with the help of Russians. (source)

2011: Eric Trump brags that they have access to millions of dollars from Russians. (source)

2011 - 2015: Donald Trump begins paying for his properties with hundreds of millions of dollars in cash. (source)

January 1, 2012: former Trump bodyguard dies from apparent overdose (source).

2013: Trump walks out of a BBC Panorama interview when asked about his connections with Felix Sater. (source)

April 16, 2013: Preet Bharara, then US attorney for SDNY, announces charges against massive Russian organized crime ring operating out of Trump Tower. (source)

June 16, 2013: Trump announces Miss Universe pageant will be in Moscow. (source)

November 9, 2013: Miss Universe pageant (source).  One of the fugitives indicted in the Trump Tower organized crime ring in April, ALIMZHAN TOKHTAKHOUNOV, is a guest of honor there. (source)

2014: Steve Bannon, while at Cambridge Analytica, orders testing on Putin messaging with Americans. (source)

February 10, 2014: Trump praises Putin on Fox & Friends. (source)

March 6, 2015: Trump Taj Mahal fined for money laundering. (source)

2015: Michael Cohen threatens a reporter covering Trump's divorce with Ivana.  “I’m warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting,” the Daily Beast’s Tim Mak, recalled Cohen telling him. “You write a story that has Mr. Trump’s name in it, with the word ‘rape,’ and I’m going to mess your life up … for as long as you’re on this frickin’ planet.” (source) (source)

April 18, 2015: Trump's former pilot dies in head-on collision (source).

November 3, 2015: Felix Sater, who is believed to work for Semion Mogilevich (source) writes Michael Cohen stating that he'll get buy-in from Putin and that they'll engineer Trump's presidency. (source)

November 5, 2015: former head of RT Mikhail Lesin found dead in DC hotel room with blunt force trauma to head, neck and torso.  He had a meeting with DOJ scheduled for following day. (source)

January 23, 2016: Trump tells the crowd at a rally that he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and not lose voters. (source)

February 23, 2016: Trump tells the crowd at a rally that he'd like to punch a protestor in the face, and "I love the old days. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.” (source)

March 29, 2016: Paul Manafort joins Trump campaign. (source)

April - May 2016: George Papadopoulos in communication with “high ranking Russian official” in an attempt to set up meetings between Trump team and Russian reps, w/the promise “that the Kremlin had 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails…” (source)

May 2016: Stephen Schwarzman flies to Riyadh to meet with Mohammed bin Salman - then the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia - about infrastructure, and presumably the $20 billion fund that's announced a year later. (source) More on Schwarzman's relationship with Trump, and Saudi Arabia here.  More on Schwarzman's links to Russia and Rosneft here.

Summer 2016: Stefan Halper, an FBI informant, approaches Trump campaign officials. (source)

June 9, 2016: Trump Tower meeting with Russians, Manafort, Kushner, Don Jr.. (source).  Present at the meeting was Nataliya Veselnitskaya, who at the time was representing Prevezon (source), a company implicated in a money-laundering case at SDNY (source)

June 14, 2016: News breaks that the DNC has been hacked by Russians. (source)

June 14, 2016: Michael Cohen cancels his planned trip to Moscow to discuss Trump Tower Moscow (source)

Sometime after July 19, 2016: Trump warned by FBI that Russians will try to infiltrate campaign. (source)

July 2016: FBI opens counter intelligence investigation into Trump campaign. (source) (source)

September, 2016: Trump and Cohen discuss hush money and contingency for if guy gets hit by a truck. (source)

October 31, 2016: Mother Jones reports "A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump"

November 7, 2016 (one day before election day): Connie Watton, maid of Stephen Schwarzman - a Trump AND Kremlin friend - is pushed in front of a subway. (source)  The woman who pushed her is assigned defense attorney Mathew Mari, known for his legal work for the Bonanno crime family.  More on Schwarzman's relationship with Trump, and Saudi Arabia here.  More on Schwarzman's links to Russia and Rosneft here.  Schwarzman had also financed Kushner projects and gave Jared Kushner a loan (source).

November 8, 2016 (election day): Russian diplomat Sergei Krivov found unconscious at the Russian Consulate in New York and died on the scene. (source)

December 2016: FSB officers arrested in Russia. (source)

December 2016: Jared Kushner instructs Michael Flynn to sabotage US foreign policy. (source)

December 1 or 2, 2016: Kushner tries to set up secret back channel with Russians using Russians' secure facilities. (source)

December 1, 2016: Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn meet with Sergei Kislyak at Trump Tower (source)

December 13-14, 2016 (date not confirmed): Jared Kushner meets with Sergey Gorkov, "a graduate of the academy of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the domestic intelligence arm of the former Soviet KGB, who was appointed by Putin to the post less than a year before his encounter with Kushner." (source)

December 19, 2016: Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, is killed. (source)

December 19, 2016: Russian diplomat to Latin America, Peter Polshikov, is killed. (source)

December 20, 2016: Methbot white paper published. (source)

December 26, 2016: Ex-KGB chief Oleg Erovinkin, who was suspected of helping draft the Trump dossier, found dead in the back of his car. (source)

December 29, 2016: Obama expels 35 Russian diplomats. (source)

December 29, 2016: KT McFarland sends email stating that "If there is a tit-for-tat escalation Trump will have difficulty improving relations with Russia, which has just thrown U.S.A. election to him," (source)

December 29, 2016: Flynn calls Kislyak to discuss the expelling of the diplomates and asks that the Russians not retaliate. (source)

January 6, 2017: Trump, McFarland, Pence, Flynn, Priebus, Pompeo and Bossert briefed with classified intelligence report by Brennan, Clapper, Comey. (source)  That same day, DNI releases this report.

January 9, 2017: Russian Consul in Athens, Greece, Andrei Malanin, found dead in his apartment (source)

January 10, 2017: Buzzfeed publishes Steele Dossier. (source)

January 24, 2017: Peter Strzok interviews Michael Flynn. (source)

January  27, 2017: Russia's Ambassador to India, Alexander Kadakin, dies. (source)

January 30, 2017: New York State Department of Financial Services fines Deutsche Bank $425 million for massive Russian mirror trading scheme. (source)

February 2017: Trump's bodyguard, a Trump Organization lawyer and a third man raid Harold Bornstein's office, taking Trump's medical records. (source)

February 20, 2017: Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN, dies suddenly in New York (source)

March 2, 2017: Ukrainian businessman with links to Trump found dead from undetermined causes.  Oronov was Michael Cohen's brother's father-in-law, and Cohen did business with him. (source)

March 11, 2017: Trump fires Preet Bharara, who as US Attorney of SDNY had led the breakup of a massive Russian organized crime ring operating out of Trump Tower. (source)

March 16, 2017: laptop stolen from Secret Service agent's car while parked in her driveway.  The laptop contained highly sensitive information including floor plans and evacuation protocol for Trump Tower. (source)

March 20, 2017: It's learned that the FBI had launched a counter intelligence investigation into the Trump campaign and Russian links in July of 2016. (source) (source)

March 21, 2017: A lawyer for a Putin-foe, Nikolai Gorokhov, reportedly thrown from a window in Moscow. Gorokhov was set to testify as a U.S. government witness in a money laundering case initiated by SDNY (led by Preet Bahrara). (source)  "The alleged vehicle by which these dirty assets were washed clean was a Cyprus-registered company called Prevezon Holdings Ltd." (source)  Prevezon is represented by Nataliya Veselnitskaya at the time that she attends the Trump Tower meeting in June of 2016. (source)

March 23, 2017: former Russian MP, Denis Voronenkov, shot dead in Kiev. (source)

March 30, 2017: FBI raids Trump-linked casino in Saipan. (source)

March 30, 2017: Mike Flynn asks for immunity. (source)

May 1, 2017: Scott Christianson, investigative reporter for McClatchy, publishes this:

May 9, 2017: Trump fires FBI director James Comey. (source)

May 2017 (date unclear): FBI opens counter intelligence investigation into Trump. (source)

May 10: 2017: Subpoenas issued to Michael Flynn by Senate Intelligence Committee. (source)

May 10, 2017: closed-door meeting in Oval Office with Russians. (source)

May 10, 2017: Roger Ailes falls in his home at Palm Beach Country. (source)

May 11, 2017: FBI raids GOP consulting firm in Maryland. (source)

May 14, 2017: Scott Christianson dies after falling down the stairs at his home (source)

May 14 2017: Republic operative Peter Smith found dead in Minnesota 10 days after speaking with WSJ (source)

Smith had said he'd been working with Michael Flynn (source).

May 17, 2017: Robert Mueller appointed special counsel (source).

May 18, 2017: Roger Ailes dies from head injury he'd sustained 8 days earlier (source).

May 20-21, 2017: Trump takes his first overseas trip as president to Saudi Arabia.  During this trip, it's announced that Blackstone, led by Stephen Schwarzman, will manage Saudi Arabia's $20 billion investment fund. (source)  Most of the investment will be in US infrastructure (source)  During that trip, Trump also meets with Kirill Dmitriev of VEB bank (source)

July 4, 2017: body washes up on shore of Trump golf course in California. (source) (source)

July 26, 2017: Paul Manafort's home raided (source)

July 27, 2017: George Papadopoulos arrested. (source)

August 3, 2017: Secret Service kicked out of Trump Tower (source).

August 23, 2017: Russian ambassador to Sudan, Mirgayas Shirinsky, found dead. (source)

September 1, 2017: fire at Russian consulate in San Francisco (source).

September 14, 2017: Junior ditches Secret Service to go to Canada (source).

September 25, 2017: Richard Beckler, Trump's appointee as General Counsel of GSA dies (source).  Beckler is the GSA staff member who'd assured Trump that requests for materials/emails from special counsel would not be honored (source).

September 27, 2017: Paul Horner, fake news writer who took credit for Trump’s win, dies of apparent overdose (source)

October 2017: Trump muses that he'll likely get to place 4 justices on the Supreme Court because of future health issues they may have (source).

October 16, 2017: Panama Papers journalist killed with a car bomb. (source)

October 25, 2017: Jared Kushner leaves on unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia.

October 26, 2017: Investigator (Catherine Hunt, a former FBI agent) working on behalf of 9/11 families suing Saudi Arabia interviews Jamal Khashoggi.  Khashoggi texted Saudi officials that same day.

(as claimed by the lawyer working on behalf of the families)

October 28, 2018: Jared Kushner returns from unannounced visit to Saudi Arabia.

October 30, 2017: Papadopoulos guilty plea revealed (source)

November 3, 2017: Alex van der Zwaan is interviewed by the FBI. (source)

November 4, 2017: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidates power and arrests several princes, including Prince Alwaleed bin-Talal. (source)  Trump had previously sold his yacht (1991) and the Plaza Hotel to Alwaleed bin-Talal (source).

November 2017: Trump picks fights with North Korea. (source)

November 17, 2017: Brett Kavanaugh added to short list of SCOTUS nominees. (source)

December 1, 2017: Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to the FBI. (source)

December 5, 2017: It's reported that Deutsche Bank received subpoena from Robert Mueller (source) In-depth Rachel Maddow segment on Deutsche Bank and the subpoena here.

December 16, 2017: Trump learns that Mueller has in his possession all of their transition emails on the .gov domain, obtained via the GSA. (source)

December 22, 2017: House Intelligence Committee interviews Rhona Graff

December 30, 2017: Fire at home linked to Ivanka's diamond business (source).

January 8, 2018: Fire at Trump Tower (source)

January 20, 2018: Former spokesman for Rick Gates, Glenn Selig, dies in Afghanistan hotel attack.  Selig was a well-known Tampa Bay Area TV anchor. (source)

January 25, 2018: It's learned that Dutch intelligence had infiltrated Russian hacker group Cozy Bear and witnessed in real time as they attacked the State Department as well as the DNC. (source)

January 27, 2018: Steve Wynn resigns as RNC finance chair amid sexual assault allegations (source).

January 31, 2018: chartered train carrying GOP lawmakers to retreat crashes into truck (source).

February 16, 2018: Indictment of 12 Russians, outlining their methods of election interference (indictment sealed). (source)

February 20, 2018: Alex van der Zwaan pleads guilty to making false statements to FBI. (source)

February 22, 2018: Paul Manafort and Richard Gates indicted. (source)

February 23 - 27, 2018: Trump Tower Panama standoff with physical altercations and armed guards (source).

Week of March 4 - 10, 2018 (date unclear): FBI raids Trump-linked casino in Saipan a second time. (source)

March 4, 2018: Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, found poisoned on a park bench in Salisbury. (source)

March 16, 2018: FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe fired. (source)

April 7, 2018: ANOTHER Trump Tower Fire - art dealer Todd Brassner dies (source); Michael Cohen texts Dennis Shields with a warning to "get out ASAP" (source).

April 9, 2018: FBI raids Michael Cohen's home, hotel room, and office (source).

April 13, 2018: RNC Finance Chair Elliot Broidy resigns in midst hush money payoff scandal (source).

April 15 or 16, 2018: Matthew Mellon (finance chair, NY RNC, and who made his fortune in cryptocurrency) dies of apparent overdose (source). Note - original link/story is now gone; here are alternate sources for that story: https://twitter.com/business/status/986135482013769728

April 24, 2018: Devin Nunes sends classified letter to Jeff Sessions regarding FBI informant (source) who is later revealed to be Stefan Halper. (source)

April 28, 2018: Fire at Trump Tower Azerbaijan (source).

Week of April 29, 2018: Devin Nunes issues subpoena to DOJ seeking information about FBI informant (later revealed to be Stefan Halper). (source)

June 20, 2018: New York State Department of Financial Services fines Deutsche Bank $205 million for "unlawful, unsafe and unsound conduct in its foreign exchange trading business." (source)

June 22, 2018: Trump-backed Katie Arrington seriously injured in head-in collision (source).

June 27, 2018: Justice Kennedy, whose son was Donald Trump's banker, unexpectedly announces retirement. (source) Trump and Kennedy reportedly had a special relationship (source).

July 4, 2018: delegation of Republicans go to Moscow. (source)

July 9, 2018: Brett Kavanaugh nominated to SCOTUS. (source)

July 14, 2018: Indictment of 12 Russians/internet research agency unsealed (source).

July 16, 2018: Maria Butina criminal complaint unsealed. (source)

July 16, 2018: Trump meets with Putin in Helsinki. (source)

July 17, 2018: Secret Service agent dies in Scotland.  After falling ill at Trump's golf course in Turnberry, he died the day after the Helsinki meeting (source) (source). (obituary)

July 25, 2018: dead body found in waters off Trump NYC golf course (source).

August 6, 2018: Rand Paul goes to Russia. (source)

August 10, 2018: Dennis Shields - the same guy Cohen texted back in April - found dead in Trump Tower (source)

August 15, 2018: Trump revokes John Brennan's security clearance. (source)

August 16, 2018: mystery case before grand jury initiated. (source)

October 2, 2018: Jamal Khashoggi murdered on orders from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (source)  Trump later disputes the findings of the CIA and stands with MBS, stating that too much money is at stake. (source)

October 3, 2018: Nikki Hailey resigns, but resignation is not yet publicly announced. (source)

October 3, 2018: The Russian deputy attorney general (Saak Karapetyan) who reportedly directed Natalya Veselnitskaya (the lawyer who met with the Trump campaign in Trump Tower) dies in a helicopter crash (source).  It was later reported that the pilot of the helicopter had been shot. (source)

October 9, 2018: Internet Research Agency (aka the troll farm) named in DOJ indictment (unsealed July 14, 2018) set on fire. (source)

October 9, 2018: Nikki Haley announces resignation.

October 9, 2018: New York Times reports that Saudi Arabia had ordered Khashoggi's murder.

October 17, 2018: Don McGahn resigns. (source)

October 19, 2018: "Project Lahkta" (Russian election interference) criminal complaint unsealed (source)

October 21, 2018: John Bolton goes to Russia to meet with Putin. (source)

October 22 - 27, 2018: week of terror begins with bombs at the home of George Soros. (source).  It was followed by bombs sent to Bill and Hillary Clinton (Oct. 23); Barack Obama, CNN, John Brennan, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Eric Holder and Maxine Waters (October 24); Robert de Niro and Joe Biden (October 25); and Cory Booker, James Clapper, Kamala Harris, and Tom Steyer (October 26). It ends with mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue on October 27 (source).

October 30, 2018: Whitey Bulger killed. (source)

November 21, 2018: head of GRU agency accused of DNC hacks and Skripal poisoning dies, reportedly after a long illness. (source)

November 27, 2018: Methbot indictment unsealed at EDNY. (source)

November 28, 2018: Miami Herald publishes Perversion of Justice investigative report.

November 29, 2018: Michael Cohen pleads guilty. (source)

November 29, 2018: Massive raid at Deutsche Bank. (source)

November 29, 2018: FBI raids offices of Trump's former tax attorney, Chicago Alderman Ed Burke. (source)

December 4, 2018: Epstein trial set to begin.  It is settled at the last minute, avoiding testimony from witnesses. (source)

December 13, 2018: FBI allegedly raids Chicago Alderman and former Trump tax attorney Ed Burke's office a second time (FBI neither confirms nor denies whether raid took place) (source).

December 22, 2018: Government shuts down. (source)

January 8, 2019: it's learned that Manafort passed polling data to Kilimnik in the summer of 2016. (source)

January 11, 2019: it's learned/reported that the FBI had opened a counter intelligence investigation into Trump in May of 2017. (source)

January 23, 2019: Michael Cohen postpones testimony before Congress, saying it's because Trump has been threatening him. (source)

January 25, 2019: Roger Stone arrested and indicted. (source) (source)

February 21, 2019: Judge rules that federal prosecutors (including Trump labor secretary Alex Acosta) broke the law in Epstein case. (source)

February 27, 2019: Michael Cohen testifies before Congress that Trump had directed him to threaten people as many as 500 times when he worked for him. (source)  He also testifies that Felix Sater's office had been located on the 26th floor of Trump Tower - the same floor as Trump's office - and, in the location that would eventually become Cohen's office. (source)

And let's not forget the acid in Steve Bannon's bathroom: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bannons-vacated-florida-home-had-a-bathroom-destroyed-by-acid-washington-post-report-985356

Or how Michael Cohen threatened this reporter: https://twitter.com/cherijacobus/status/974831949285031936

Or the threats Stormy Daniels received: https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/25/politics/stormy-daniels-threat-60-minutes/index.html

A short history of Donald Trump's threats: https://www.propublica.org/article/a-short-history-of-threats-received-by-donald-trumps-opponents

[sjsmith56]

Complicated - Day 3

Summary: Waking up as a prisoner of the Russian mob, Bucky formulates an escape plan. Everything is wrapped up at the end. Or is it?

Length: 5.7 K

Characters: Bucky, Rita, Sam, Joaquin, Fury, Maria Hill.

Warnings: Violence, betrayal, disappointment.

Author notes: See after the story to avoid spoilers.

<<Day 1. <<Day 2.

🏍️ 🪜🚪

When Bucky opened his eyes, he wasn’t expecting to be strapped into the seat of a memory suppression machine in the lit center of a dark room. His first instinct was to struggle against the restraints, hoping to break them, but they seemed to be as strong as he was. Even his vibranium arm had no effect on the metal restraint that clamped his forearm in place. A chuckle attracted his attention, and he looked in the direction it came from.

“You won’t be able to break out of these restraints, Soldat,” said Alexei Markov, accompanied by an older, sterner-looking man. “After the fall of Sokovia we sent teams into the ruins of that country looking for even the most microscopic particles of vibranium. It took years to collect it but when you resurfaced with a vibranium arm we knew it would go to good use in your recapture.

“The machine won’t work,” said Bucky. “The Soldat is gone, the words are gone, and all your efforts will be for nothing. The Avengers will find me.”

“They’ll be too late, Soldat,” said the older man. “Did you really think that HYDRA only created one Winter Soldier in your mind? Nine were created, but only one was ever accessed. There are eight more Soldats waiting to be activated.”

“I don’t believe you,” replied Bucky.

The older man glanced at someone to the side who came into the light. He held several books, just like the book that Colonel Karpov always had at the ready whenever Bucky was thawed out and activated. They were all red but the stars on the front were different colours. A trickle of sweat came down the side of Bucky’s face as he felt a current of fear begin to run through his veins. The older man smirked then pulled the book at the top of the pile into his hands. It had a blue star on the cover.

“Soldat siniy,” he said. “The blue soldier. Start the memory wipe.”

“No,” growled Bucky, starting to struggle. “No, I won’t go back to that. I won’t do it.”

The chair reclined, as he continued to fight and proclaim his defiance until the metal headpiece trapped his head into place. Gritting his teeth, he screamed when the first charge coursed through him. He lost count of how many charges went through his brain but when they stopped, he had no strength left to fight them. His name was lost to him, his body was useless, and all he remembered was that the words would soon come that would bring the Soldat out of sleep.

“Toska, okislyat’, tridsat’, voskhod, pech’,vosem’, bezvrednyy, privychnyy, dva, lokomotiv.”

As each word was said, the chair righted itself and the headpiece raised to its original position, Bucky felt himself sink further and further into oblivion while the next Soldat emerged. When he was greeted by the older man, and responded with his usual “Ready to comply,” the two men looked at each other with satisfaction. All of the crime families, not just Russian, would soon be under their control now that they had the Winter Soldier doing their bidding.

The older man, the Pakhan, looked at the Soldat and nodded to another man who brought Rita forward. She had been witness to everything that just happened. Any hope she had of staying alive were dashed when she heard the next words, spoken in English.

“Soldat,” said the Pakhan. “Kill the woman.”

Raising himself deliberately to a standing position, the Soldat approached Rita, focused only on her with his dark, emotionless eyes.

“Bucky, no,” she whispered. “This isn’t you. You’re Bucky Barnes, an Avenger. Stop, please Bucky.”

His vibranium hand circled her throat and he smiled a deadly smile at how flexible this new appendage was compared to the bulky titanium one he used to have when he was first programmed. She continued to say the name Bucky as he began squeezing the life out of her.

“Bucky.” It was just a whisper in the darkness of the nightmare, but it was a tether that brought him back from where his mind had been. “Bucky, wake up.”

His eyes opened to the worried face of a woman, Rita … her name was Rita, and she was alive. He hadn’t killed her. For a moment he was flooded with a sense of relief, then of shame and disgust, but she touched his cheeks this time and her soft skin felt so nice on him that he nodded and shifted his body, from his back to lying on his side.

“Where are we?” he muttered.

“Not sure,” she whispered. “They put a hood on me when the jet landed and only took it off when they shoved me in here with you. Are you alright?”

“Not yet. I had a nightmare.”

He lifted his hands to rub his face, surprised he didn’t lash out and hurt her during his nightmare, especially since his wrists were immobilized in restraints. Doing the best he could Bucky rubbed his eyes then raised himself to a sitting position. He and Rita were in a darkened room, but it was day outside as evidenced by the thin streams of light that came through the cracks around the window coverings. She was watching him carefully and he almost reached out to touch her face to reassure her.

“Are you alright? Have they hurt you?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t touch me. Before they knocked you out, he called you Soldat.”

“They know who I am,” he replied. “I’m guessing he wants to use me, use my skills, probably to consolidate power for his family.” He looked closer at her. “I won’t do it willingly, but he’ll probably threaten to hurt or kill you to force me. I won’t let them do that.”

“I’m sorry I got you into this,” said Rita. She looked down briefly. “You helped me without question and now they’re going to make you their slave.”

He smiled softly at her. “They’ll try.” He looked closer at the restraints around his wrists. “Probably a titanium alloy. Strong but not unbreakable if I can get the right leverage.”

“What do you need?” she asked.

“Liquid nitrogen would be the best,” he grinned, knowing it wasn’t something lying around. “Heat, hot enough to weaken it, a steel beam that I could hit it against. I could continually bash it against the wall until it breaks against the vibranium in my arm but that would alert them.”

“You don’t want much, do you?”

He gazed at Rita, his eyes soft. “Let me try to see if I can break the lock apart.”

Looking around the room for something to brace the restraint against he saw a plumbing stack, thinking it might be a drain from the roof, and went over to it, testing its strength. It seemed fairly sturdy but with the force he would have to use to break the restraint it could bring them running. He looked up at the ceiling, noticing it was the standard drop ceiling often found in commercial installations. If he could make sure Rita was safe then he could free himself and take care of anyone who came through the door, without having to defend her at the same time.

“You afraid of heights?” he asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” she replied, looking up at the ceiling, where he had been looking. “You want me to go through the ceiling?”

He nodded. “I’ll boost you up in the corner and you can lift the panel. If we’re in a warehouse there will be a structure that supports the roof. It should be strong enough to support you. Look for a trap door opening to the roof or a vent that you climb into that comes out there. You’ll be safer up there than here.”

“It’s still quite a distance,” she said looking up. “I don’t know if I’m tall enough to reach it even if I stand on your shoulders.”

“I know I can jump it,” he replied, thinking for a moment. “If you piggyback onto me that will take you high enough and you can climb through the panel.” The look of incredulity on her face was extreme but she kept looking between Bucky and the corner ceiling panel. “I can do it, easily. Do you trust me?”

“More than I should, I think,” said Rita, grinning.

“Would you go out with me?” asked Bucky impulsively, trying to match her grin. “I’ll treat you right.”

“Do the last two days count?” He smiled in response to that, a genuine smile that touched her. “If we get out of this, I’ll go anywhere with you.”

She surprised Bucky with a kiss, and he closed his eyes, savouring the feel of her soft lips on his. All too soon she pulled away and stood up, walking over to the corner then looking at him again. She nodded and he approached, kneeling down so she could climb onto his back. Wrapping her arms securely around his neck, then adjusting them so she didn’t choke him, she took a deep breath.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Stepping back several steps Bucky ran and leaped up pushing aside the flimsy ceiling panel so that he could grasp the rafter that he hoped was above it. His hands were able to grasp something metal and he held on as Rita pushed the panel out of the way and lifted herself into the cavity.

“You’re right,” she said, excitedly, looking into the dim space. “There’re all sorts of metal roof trusses up here. I’ll have to stick to the edge as there’s a ledge here big enough to stand on.”

“Stay there, but put the panel back on,” said Bucky. “I’m going to try to break this restraint. If I have to fight them, you’re safer up here.”

“You’re coming back, right? I not going on without you,” she exclaimed, making him feel protective at the worry evident on her face.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he said. “But if I tell you to go you keep going, don’t look back. I can handle myself.”

“What if they taser you again?”

He gave her a grim smile but didn’t answer. Instead, he released his hold on the metal bracing, dropping back down to the floor. Looking up at her, he watched as she put the panel back into place. While she sat in the roof space, he approached the plumbing stack, then raised his restrained wrists, trying to figure out the angle that would hopefully do the most damage. Raising them over his head he struck the plumbing stack twice, hearing a crack. He pulled his wrists apart and heard another crack then the device broke apart just as the door opened and two guards came in. Throwing the broken pieces into their faces Bucky followed through with punches to their heads, knocking one of them out immediately and staggering the other. Before the other man could recover Bucky kicked him into the wall imbedding him in it. He placed two more punches knocking him out. Briefly looking out the door he didn’t see anyone, so he closed it and wedged both men against it. Quickly, he checked them for weapons, finding two handguns, which he shoved into his waistband, and a couple of knives, slipping them into his boots. They each had a cell phone, so he used the thumbprint of its owner to open one while he crushed the other. With the unlocked one in his hand, he dialled Sam, getting an answer within seconds.

“Sam, it’s me,” he said immediately without giving him a chance to answer. “Stolen phone. I’m going to leave the line open so you can trace it as I have no idea where we are. Gotta go.” He looked up at the corner. “Rita, I’m coming up.”

She pulled the ceiling panel out of the way, and he easily jumped up, leaving the phone on the ledge so the phone call would stay open. Placing the ceiling panel back into place he looked at Rita, smiling in triumph. Then he scanned the space they were in.

“I think there’s a door to the roof over there,” she said, pointing to a position on the far side of the building that was lit up by a glow from below. “I don’t think there’s a ceiling in that portion.”

“You’re right,” he replied. “That ladder against the wall leads to it. I’ll have to destroy it so they can’t follow us up.” He touched her arm. “You ready?”

She began working her way along the ledge, while he jumped from truss to truss. They heard a yell from where they had been then could hear orders being given in Russian to find them. Since they were still obscured, they kept moving, trying to keep their movement as quiet as they could. Finally, they reached the edge of the open area where the ladder to the roof door was located and peeked over the edge.

“Hurry, get to the door,” he whispered.

They had about 20 feet to get to it when someone yelled from the open area below them. Turning towards them Bucky used his vibranium arm to shield Rita as a couple of the men took potshots at them, then returned fire with one of the handguns, making the men below take cover. They fired back; the bullets hitting the steel beam, but he managed to divert the others with his metal arm until he was hit in the leg, making it buckle beneath him. Rita called out to him, but he still shielded her.

“Get to the door,” he insisted. “I can manage.”

“No, not without you,” she said, starting to come closer to him, reminding him of when Steve rescued him from the HYDRA facility in Austria.

A bullet hit a truss near her and ricocheted, making her duck, her face angry when she did.

“Damn it, Rita.” Bucky looked over at her. “Get to the door and get outside. Please. I’m coming, but you need to be safe first.”

Reluctantly, she continued working her way towards it then reached out to the ladder attached to the wall and began climbing up towards the door. When Bucky joined her, he looked down at the ladder in frustration, knowing they would send men up.

“Keep going, I’ll kick it away from the wall,” he said.

As she made her way through the door, he leaned back on the edge of it for leverage then began kicking the ladder away from the wall. One side came away and Bucky kept working at the other side as one of the Russians was climbing up. At least with him climbing they stopped shooting at Bucky, not wanting to risk hitting their own man. Slowly, the ladder began to loosen, and Bucky alternated both feet, working the metal away from the wall. The other side broke free from where it was secured and Bucky kept kicking at it, making it bend away. As the Russian reached that section of the ladder, he hesitated, unsure whether it would hold him. Taking that as his cue to leave Bucky stood up and went through the door to the roof. He slammed the door down then looked on the roof for something heavy enough to keep it closed, tearing an air conditioning unit from its mounting and dragging it over, preventing the door from being opened. Grasping Rita’s hand, they ran towards where there was more cover and huddled beside another air conditioning unit.

“Let me look at your wound,” said Rita.

“It’s nothing,” replied Bucky. “Once the bullet is out it will heal within hours.” He could see she didn’t believe him. “It’s a super soldier thing.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Yeah, but I can take it.” He smiled at her. “You did good down there, kept your cool. You’d make a good agent.” He looked down at his hands then at her again. “Did you mean what you said about following me anywhere?”

Rita seemed embarrassed. “I left a good job to follow Jason on his goal of becoming a professional poker player. He wasn’t the best man I ever committed to, but he was far from the worst, as bad as that sounds. What you’ve done for me in the last couple of days has been more than any other man I’ve been with.” She looked him straight in the eye. “How do you feel about me?”

They noticed a shadow pass over them, looking up in time to see Sam landing right beside them followed immediately by Joaquin.

“Fancy meeting you here,” joked Sam. “Leaving the phone open was a good idea. It led us straight to this place. Just waiting on the special forces squad to arrive as this whole dock area is crawling with mafia and we need the manpower. You up to helping?”

“He was shot in the leg,” said Rita.

“I’m fine,” countered Bucky. “It hardly hurts.”

“Is he always this stubborn?” she asked.

Bucky said no, while Sam and Joaquin both blurted out yes at the same time, making Rita laugh.

“You get used to it,” said Sam, then he lifted his head and looked off into the distance. “Roger that.” He turned back to the others. “Special forces are here. Torres can take Rita to the quinjet. You good to jump down or do you want an assist?”

“I’ll take the assist,” replied Bucky then put his hand on Rita’s arm before she went to Torres. “Stay in the quinjet and I’ll see you after.” He kissed her, as Sam and Joaquin rolled their eyes a little. “That’s how I feel about you.”

Joaquin held his arms out to Rita as Bucky moved towards Sam. “I won’t let you go,” he said, picking her up bridal style. As he rose up in the air, she cried out a little at the sensation of flying in his arms. “It’s okay. Sarge will kill me if I drop you.”

“Sarge?” she asked.

Joaquin grinned. “Yeah, he was a sergeant back in the day. Still in the reserves, I think. Definitely still capable as a soldier.”

As she was flown to the perimeter that had been set up around the dock area, Sam reached inside his chest pocket and came out with a comms piece for Bucky.

“So, you like her?” he asked, grinning while Bucky took a moment to insert the comms in his ear, and check the guns that he took from the two Russians.

“She handled herself well,” he replied, not wanting to meet his partner’s eyes at first, then he sighed. “She kissed me once and yeah; I liked the kiss and I like her. We had a few close emotional moments, none of them sexual. I didn’t ask her to do anything she was uncomfortable or afraid to do.”

“I was going to give you the warning to not expect a lasting relationship based on an intense shared emotional experience,” said Sam, “but that would sound like something Dr. Raynor would say.” Bucky glared at him. “But if you can match it with a physical attraction and a certain amount of friendship there’s likely no reason you can’t build on that foundation. It’s called Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you might have a chance at something good with her,” said Sam. “She gives off good vibes.”

Both of them stopped bantering as a voice that Bucky recognized as Nick Fury’s dryly asked if they were finished their chat. Acknowledging that they were ready, the order to attack the various buildings inside the perimeter was given. Bucky looped his arm around Sam’s neck as he lifted off then removed it when the flyer was about ten feet off the ground, easily landing upright on his feet after he was dropped.

Several more Avengers, and a special forces unit were getting into position near the entries into the various warehouses. Approaching the closest one Bucky was acknowledged, and they burst through the door with weapons blazing.

About half a mile away Joaquin landed, gently letting Rita down then he took off into the sky. The ramp to the quinjet lowered to where an attractive dark-haired woman with a headset on appeared and gestured for her to come up. A man dressed in black with an eye-patch was inside in front of a row of monitors barking out orders.

“Miss Harmon?” asked the woman. “I’m Maria Hill. This is Nick Fury … Avengers boss. If you could sit here, we’ll get this raid done and over with. He wants to have a chat with you about your future.”

Doing as she was told Rita sat and watched the whole operation as it unfolded from the monitors, realizing that the Avenger operatives were all wearing body cameras, plus both of the winged men had them on remote units they controlled. She watched the several screens showing the different locations where an Avenger with special forces support were taking on gunmen. Occasionally, she would get a good look at Bucky in action, actually witnessing his strength and physicality on display for the first time. It was a revelation that confirmed what Torres said about Bucky’s capabilities as a soldier. It was also hotter than anything she had ever witnessed. She was interrupted by Fury suddenly barking out an order.

“We have a location on the Pakhan. If you’re anywhere near the stack of blue sea cans with a Hanjin logo get over there.”

She saw both Sam and Bucky change direction and head towards the area. Bucky was holding a machine gun, obviously taken from one of the Russians. Watching as Sam flew above and directed Bucky to where the boss of the Russian mafia family was with his bodyguards, even while he took fire from the ground, she suddenly blurted out her own observation.

“They’re circling behind Bucky. Cap needs to take them out.”

Fury looked back at her, as if he couldn’t believe she was telling him what to do. “You heard that? Barnes, watch your six. Cap, leave the Pakhan for a moment, and take out those who are trying to contain Barnes.”

She watched, fascinated, as Sam dealt with those gunmen behind Bucky while he kept advancing on the Pakhan. When he came around a sea can one of the bodyguards took a shot at him, which Bucky responded to with a short burst that hit the man, sending him down to the ground. The other bodyguard put himself in front of the older man as they both backed up to where a vehicle was. Knowing they would escape if they got in the car Bucky shot out the tire, causing the Pakhan to shake his fist at Bucky and yell something in Russian at him. Bucky yelled something back which made Fury and Hill smirk. It was obvious to Rita that they could understand Russian. As if he heard her ask what was said, Fury turned to Rita.

“The Pakhan said that was a $10,000 tire. Barnes told him for that price it should have been bulletproof instead of blowing just as easily as a $100 one. He got ripped off. The old man didn’t like that.”

His attention returned to the screens as team after team reported their objectives had been achieved. It was down to Bucky, the Pakhan and the bodyguard but Fury didn’t look worried. In fact, he looked impatient.

“Barnes, we’re already wrapping up everyone else,” he said. “You going to keep playing with him?”

“His people have been on my tail since Tuesday,” replied the super soldier. “I’m enjoying making him sweat a bit but if you really want me to reel him in, I can. Sam? Can you take the bodyguard for a ride?”

“Now you’re talking,” said the winged man, who swooped over the Pakhan, releasing a tether that caught the bodyguard around his ankle, yanking him up into the air for an upside-down flight. Bucky came out from his cover, advancing towards the head of the Russian mafia family. The man pulled a gun out from his jacket, firing at Bucky, who calmly put his vibranium hand out and deflected the bullets before standing in front of him and grabbing the gun out his hand. He said something to the man and this time Hill translated.

“One less Russian rat to trap,” she repeated.

“Is he always that calm and cool?” asked Rita, not quite believing that Bucky had just casually deflected bullets as if it were no big deal.

Fury shrugged. “He does get angry sometimes. I’m guessing he didn’t want you to see that part of him as it can be frightening.”

Bucky took the Pakhan’s arm and marched him back out to the open where he was taken into custody. Sam landed beside him, a big grin on his face, which disappeared when Bucky made two quick hand signals to him, signals that were noticed by Fury, as the super soldier then spoke.

“Have all the buildings on this dock under the Pakhan’s control been fully checked yet?”

The one-eyed man frowned at the question, seeing how tense Bucky looked on Sam’s video cam. Maria barked an order into her headset for a quick check of all buildings. As the different body cams showed the teams going through the structures again, they took fire inside a large plain concrete block building drawing the others to the action. Once the enemy was subdued, a body cam showed a door that was marked with Russian words in the Cyrillic alphabet and an outline of a star. Both Fury and Maria swore when they saw it and relayed the location to Bucky and Sam. Even from the screen Rita could see the look exchanged between the two men as they approached the building.

“What is it?” she asked. “What does it say on that door?”

Fury turned to Rita, giving her a different look that seemed colder and more calculating.

“It’s classified,” he said, then nodded at Maria. “Deep shadow conditions.”

“Understood,” she said, entering some commands on a keyboard. “Miss Harmon, we’re going to relocate you away from the command center. It’s for your own safety.” Two men in security gear appeared at the ramp. “Please go with them.”

“I don’t understand,” protested Rita.

“Let’s just say there are things about James Buchanan Barnes that aren’t well known,” said Fury. “If he wants you to know he’ll tell you, not us.” He glared at the two men. “Please escort Miss Harmon off the quinjet.”

When she left and was out of earshot, Fury turned back to the screen. “When did you know?” he asked Bucky.

“When I saw the Pakhan I knew for sure,” said Bucky. “There were lots of little things that didn’t seem suspicious on their own but taken together I knew something wasn’t quite right. She must have had a cell phone all along and kept them tracking us. Gudonov found us too easily which means they knew my bike already. More suspicions when the semi-trucks found us on the highway, and boxed us in. She wouldn’t leave me even though I asked her to run while I kept them busy, after running away from the church so easily. She didn’t seem to be very afraid of Markov when he took her into the limousine, even though she knew that he personally killed her boyfriend. They left us together in a poorly guarded room in the warehouse and had gunmen who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn as they shot at us, because they weren’t even trying. The clincher was the Pakhan. I recognized him from a nightmare I had in the warehouse which means it was also a memory.”

“They wanted the Winter Soldier at their beck and call, except it didn’t work,” said Fury. “Hill, confirm Rita Harmon’s identity. Barnes, it’s up to you whether you want to open that door. It might be like opening Pandora’s Box.”

“I’ll do it,” he said. “If they have the books then I should be the one to burn them.”

“Alright, Cap, you go with him.”

“As if he had a choice,” replied Sam.

The two men entered the plain concrete block building that sat in the middle of the complex. Several other of the Avengers were there, nodding their support at Bucky as he walked past them towards the door, with the warning in Russian. Winter Star Lab. Authorized personnel only. The door was locked but Bucky punched the lock with his left fist, and it disconnected slightly, allowing him to pull it open. An overhead light came on as he stepped inside, and he was immediately taken back to the fluorescent lighting in many of the HYDRA labs; it’s artificial look making him feel queasy. More lights came on and he saw it completely then, another memory suppressing machine just like those that were used to shock his brain into something more pliable, something that would accept the Winter Soldier programming, except this one had vibranium restraints. He must have stood there for some time staring at it as Sam suddenly spoke.

“You alright?”

“No, I’m not alright,” replied Bucky. “This is nightmare stuff for me. How did they find out about the other Winter Soldier personalities?”

“They must have someone from HYDRA on their payroll,” said Sam. “They wouldn’t know that Shuri deactivated all of them by trial and error.”

“They put me through it, Sam,” stated Bucky. “I had a nightmare in that other warehouse, that they unlocked the second Winter Soldier and had me kill Rita. I was so relieved when I saw her that I didn’t panic. It wasn’t until I saw the Pakhan and recognized him from my dream that I realized it was a memory, a recent memory, except they didn’t activate me so maybe I imagined that part which made me think it was a dream.”

“But you woke up as yourself and she realized it didn’t take. So, she had a backup plan … to make you love her. Maybe, in her twisted mind she figured she could corrupt the real you by keeping you on the run for a bit longer and bind you to her.”

Bucky looked like he wanted to vomit and ran the back of his hand slowly across his mouth, as if to wipe away a bad taste. Sam stepped towards a locked cabinet and tugged on the handle then turned to Bucky, who yanked the door off. Inside were eight red books and this time Bucky did get sick, lurching towards a waste basket and spewing whatever was left in his stomach from his last meal.

“Confirm the books’ contents,” said Fury, then added. “When you’re ready.”

With a look of distaste on his face Bucky picked up the one with the blue star, flipping through it, then quickly going through the others.

“Confirmed,” he said. “Where did they find them?”

“Same place they found out about the other eight Soldats,” said Fury. “We’re going to have to interrogate her for that information. I can get a telepath ….”

“Let me have a try first,” said Bucky. “Sam, make sure these books aren’t seen by anyone else. I want to burn them myself.”

“What about the machine?” asked the winged man, gesturing to the black contraption behind them.

“I’ll pull it apart. Get a box for the vibranium pieces and return them to Wakanda. Then take the other pieces to a scrap metal place and make sure they’re melted down.”

As Sam searched for a couple of boxes, Bucky tore the machine apart, making sure that it looked nothing like what it was before. He picked up the vibranium pieces, putting them into one of the boxes while Sam put the books into the other. The two men left the lab and Bucky handed off the box of vibranium to Joaquin who was waiting outside. Several SHIELD agents entered the building to pick up the scrap metal of the now destroyed machine. While Sam and Joaquin returned to the quinjet with the others, Bucky walked to another building where Rita was under the guard of two SHIELD security agents. Outside the door Nick Fury stood, waiting for Bucky’s arrival. He looked sympathetically at the super soldier who stopped in front of his boss.

“I’m not going to hurt her, if you’re worried about that,” he said calmly, then he reached for the knife in his boot. “But I am going to make her very afraid so that talking to you will seem like a relief.”

“We used a telepath on Gudonov,” said Fury. “Her real name is Ekaterina Harnovsky, wife of Alexei Markov, American born of Russian parents, arranged marriage to pay off a debt. At least that part was true. Jason Tierney was a poker player they killed because he couldn’t pay his debt. He apparently was a regular at the diner you always stop at when you go to Delacroix by road. I guess he mentioned you were often there, and they likely hatched up the plan to bring you in. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. If she had been the real thing, you could have had a good relationship.”

“Yeah,” replied Bucky, sounding unconvinced. Then he gave out a big sigh. “I better get on with it. It might take me a while to get over this.”

“Go back to Delacroix after,” said Fury. “Burn the books, take a week, more if you need it. The world will keep turning without you standing guard over it for a bit.”

Bucky nodded, then stepped past the man in black, opened the door to the office and waited while the two security agents left. With one last look at Fury, giving him a grim smile, he closed the door. Sometimes, a man had to do what had to be done. Didn’t mean he liked it.

💔 💔 💔

Author notes: Yearning, oxidize, thirty, sunrise, stove, eight, harmless, familiar, two, locomotive – words for the next iteration of the Winter Soldier, variations on a theme. Each of the subsequent soldiers would have had similar synonyms tailored for that personality, with the number of the personality (both backwards and forwards) in the sixth and ninth words in each command string.

The military hand signals Bucky gave to Sam and recognized by Fury and likely Hill indicated Hostage Enemy. Since Rita was the hostage, it would be the quickest way for Bucky to signal she wasn’t legit. She was very much a method actor with her performance knowing Bucky, with his skills, could see through her if she wasn’t convincing enough.

“Deep shadow conditions” is an “Easter egg” to Captain America and the Winter Soldier when Fury is being chased through Manhattan and he contacts Hill, giving her that phrase. It means the situation is changing quickly and you’re needed. In the context with identifying the Hostage as an Enemy it was also Fury’s way of getting Hill to put Rita into custody without letting on that they knew about her.

I really did try to give it a happy ending, but the story just kept pushing me towards Rita being part of it.

Short Fiction Masterlist

Please like, comment, or reblog if you liked this story.

[zigzagziggyyy]

Betrayed [2018] Billy as Mike Wolf pt 1

[jasminrt1]

Yuri Boyka

[jarofchaos]

[February 20, 2021]

Does it show that I adore Vitaly Aksakov yet? (Belongs to @/maricalyptic on Instagram)

Imma just put this here... gently.

Have this lil 1920s show. And ofc Vitaly is Regina.

[kobutareads1]

THE AFFAIR by whitesilverandmercury

Modern AU - mafia. 11 chapters. Eruri. Ereri. Eruren. JeanMarco. Architect Erwin. Russian Levi. Walking ball of trouble Eren. Erwin takes Nile's advice and tries to have an affair during a business trip to St. Petersburg. Instead he gets caught up with Eren and his plans, stuck in the middle of a Russian mafia turf war and meets Levi.

Thank you @tsuki-no-ura for reminding me of this fic. It's an absolutely chaotic and wild ride from start to finish. Although Erwin is successful, he's drifting and lost. He's awakened in the craziness of the events he finds himself in. The ending is open ended but I hope he finds what he's looking for in St. Petersburg. Warnings for gun violence, prostitution, drug use and everyone babying Eren.