This time, Bucky did cringe. His eyes even dropped to the floor for a few guilty seconds.
"We needed information on the super soldiers. Zemo had connections." And a tendency to do exactly the opposite of what Bucky wanted him to do sometimes. Like not shoot someone. Or blowing them up. There was probably a way to confirm that Zemo was the one behind the bombing of the last super soldier hostages but why bother proving something that he felt was true anyway?
"I didn't kill anyone." He hesitated. "Given a few bruises. Maybe. Zemo tried the trigger words but they didn't work." But the other man hadn't looked disappointed. Oddly, only curious. That hadn't filled Bucky with a ton of confidence but like he'd mentioned already, he'd been too desperate to get back Steve's shield. Maybe he had been done the wrong. Everything could have fallen apart so easily. Sam could have gotten hurt. Or killed. Or Sarah and her sons. And it would have been his fault. All for a little bit of vibranium.
"Our cover was blown quickly anyway. Which was probably good since I might have ended up someone's pet before we got anything useful." Bucky hadn't liked that part of the plan but he had to admit, he knew it would work. He was a valuable asset, after all.