Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel. Just Anna, Tuck, and Marcus. Plus the traitors, but not Hydra. Nobody wants to own them.


Chapter 9

Only Temporary

Goodbyes were things that Anna was very much used to. But being used to it didn't mean she liked them, especially when it came to people she was close to and really cared about. Saying goodbye to, for instance, Phil's teammates was easier than saying goodbye to Phil. But goodbyes were part of the job, and Anna knew that. She just liked to think that she'd see the person around later, instead of maybe never again.

Saying goodbye to Steve wasn't easy, especially now that he was so unsure of what to do with himself. He was in a new body, he had new abilities, but he was still the same ol' Steve, so he didn't know what to do. Anna couldn't help him with that, not as much as she'd like. She had her own crap to deal with, no matter how much she'd rather help him instead.

After everything happened, the body was taken away, and Anna and Steve were taken back to another secure location. Steve got a change of clothes, and people made sure his wound was okay, which was already starting to heal up just fine. Once that was done, blood, a lot of blood, was taken from Steve.

"Think you got enough?" Steve asked.

"Any hope of reproducing the program is locked in your genetic code. But without Dr. Erskine it would take years."

"He deserved more than this."

"If it could work only once, he'd be proud it was you," Peggy complimented.

"And to be honest, I think you're all we need," Anna piped up from the doorway. "Heroes are made by the paths they choose, not the powers they're graced with. It's part of the reason why Erskine picked you, because you were already hero material before all this."

"I don't know about that," Steve muttered.

"No, I happen to agree," Peggy chimed in.

It was very easy to hear the conversation as the three left the room to head back downstairs to where Colonel Phillips, Senator Brandt, and Howard Stark were located examining the sub Steve pulled the Hydra spy out of.

"Colonel Phillips, my community is the answer to-"

"Great, why don't we start with how a German spy got a ride to my secret installation in your car?" Phillips said, before turning to Stark. "What do you got here?"

"Well, speaking modestly, I'm the best mechanical engineer in this country," Stark said. "But I don't know what's inside this thing, or how it works. We're not even close to this technology."

"Then who is?" Brandt asked.

"Hydra," Phillips said. "I'm sure you've been reading out briefings."

"I'm on a number of committees, Colonel.

"Hydra is the Nazi deep-science division," Peggy answered. "It's led by Johann Schmidt, but he has much bigger ambitions."

"Hydra is practically a cult. They worship Schmidt. They think he's invincible," Phillips said.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Brandt asked.

"Spoke to the president this morning. As of today, the SSR is being retasked," Phillips answered. "Pack your bags, Agent Carter. Agent Carr, you too Mr. Stark. We're flying to London tonight."

Oh thank God, Anna thought. It's about damn time we go overseas. Now my work can really begin. We're one step close to getting home.

"Sir?" Steve asked. "If you're going after Schmidt, I want in."

"You're an experiment. You're going to Alamogordo," Phillips said.

"The serum worked!" Steve insisted.

"I asked for an army and all I got was you," Phillips said. "You are not enough." Phillips turned his back to them and started to walk away. "Carr, follow me."

Anna gulped and looked at the two nervously. She did not like the say he called her. She followed, nervously as she saw Tucker enter in through the open loading dock door. He stopped when he got to the other young agent and addressed them both at the same time.

"You were supposed to make sure this didn't happen," Phillips said.

"Was I?" Anna retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I said I'd protect history, not your program."

"This is not what I signed up for," Phillips said. "You were supp-"

"I was supposed to do my job, and that's exactly what I'm doing, Colonel," Anna interrupted dangerously. "This is what happened. Exactly how it happened, even with my being there. Don't put this on me. This is what I'm protecting."

"S-She's right. The risks of changing anything in the space time continuum is so dangerous that-"

"I don't care," Phillips interrupted. "Now, you, skinny kid, you're supposed to be smart, right?" he asked Tuck.

"Uh, yes sir, I have a PhD in-"

"I don't care. Help Stark figure out what the hell that thing is, how it works, and maybe I'll consider helping you," Phillips threatened before walking away.

"W-Wow, that's so cool!" He said, hopping down to look at the thing.

"Tucker! You're not doing this. Do you know what coul-"

"I don't think you're giving me much credit, Anna," he said. "I know what is usual for this time technology wise. I know what I can give them and what I can't. I won't get us in trouble."

Anna nodded and sat down on the ledge. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just a little stressed and overwhelmed. If you can do this, Phillips will take us overseas."

"W-Wait, we're going over there? To a war?" Tuck stammered.

"Yes, it's one step close to getting us home, Tuck," Anna said.

"Theoretically."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Yes, theoretically, but right now, theoretical is the best we've got."


Anna didn't have to pack because everything she had was in that truck issued to her by Phillips, and since the truck was going with them, she didn't need to pack anything on her person. It was one less thing for her to worry about.

After Tuck did what he could with Phillips and Stark, Anna caught up with Steve before he moved out too. He told her he joined the USO, and that he'd be doing something very important for the war effort. He didn't know that it would be stage performance selling war bonds in tights. Anna did. It took everything she had not to start singing the theme song of Captain America, "The Star Spangled Man with a Plan." It was stuck in her head for the next several days to follow though.

But Anna was standing next to Steve, hugging him goodbye.

"You've done a lot for me, Anna," he told her. "I can't thank you enough."

"I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done for me," Anna said. "You're going to be fine, Steve. You're going to do great things. Just wait and see. Follow your heart and nothing will stop you. Trust me, I know things." She winked.

"Think we'll see each other again?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I do," Anna said. Though she hoped it would just be back in her own time. "I know we will, Steve. Someday, who knows when, but it will happen. I'll make sure it does. Because this isn't goodbye, it's an until next time."

"Well, until next time," he said, smirking down at her.

"Until next time."


S.H.I.E.L.D. EYES ONLY

CLASSIFICATION LEVEL X

LINE OF DUTY DEATH [LODD] INVESTIGATION

REF: S.H.I.E.L.D. CASE 1-17_1-19_2-1_2-10_3-22

AGENT IN COMMAND [AIC]: MARIA HILL

RE: AGENT ANNA MAY CARR A.K.A. ANNACONDA, A.K.A. LITTLE MISS SHIELD

TRANSCRIPT: RECORDED JUNE 25, 1943. 21:53

The camera flicked on, and the machine started recording instantly. It felt so stupid having to do this, but she supposed it wasn't the first time having to debrief while being filled. After Palermo, there were a lot of people asking questions. So the easiest thing to do was record and share what was necessary.

"I've been meaning to do this for a while now, but there's been far too much going on lately that I believe take precedence over this report. After all, I'd just have to go over it all again once we get back….If we get back…"

Anna ran a hand through her hair, which was starting to get really long. It was naturally brown again, after having dyed it to Blonde for Russia, then back to brunette again because she wasn't particularly a fan of how washed out she looked as a blonde, the brown was just not her natural color. But now it was back and she was happy about that. She was fidgety, obviously uncomfortable on camera. She shifted in her seat, looking around pretty much anywhere but the device.

"I don't really know where to begin, to be honest. I guess I should start from the beginning, shouldn't I? The very beginning….

"This is Agent Anna May Carr. Identification A01492866. Today's date is June 25, 1943.

"In March of 2013 Agent Maria Hill assigned me to a team for a covert internal investigation. There had been questionable outcomes from this team's missions on several occasions, and the previous agent assigned to this same task, Agent William James, mysteriously disappeared during one of these missions after having reported in that he knew something about them.

"The agents in question were Agents Ryan O'Hagan, Ricky Dadney, Neil MacFarlane, Marcus Alenko, and Tucker Collend. On December 24, 2013 the team was assigned to grab an 0-8-4. O'Hagan received a call from Agent Sitwell informing him to take the 0-8-4 for Hydras use, which was exactly who they worked for, and to take the rest of us out.

"The agents in question ended up being Ryan O'Hagan, Ricky Dadney, and Neil MacFarlane. Upon discovering this, a fight ensued to prevent them from taking possession of this object, and somehow, God only knows how, we ended up in 1943...Yeah, time travel. That's a new one…Here I thought the weirdest thing I'd ever do in my career as a SHIELD agent would be fighting Dark Elves on Svartalfheim, and in London, not to mention getting brainwashed to by a Frost Giant."

It was clear from the way she was talking that she still couldn't believe it when she said it. She was living it, of course, but it still was so unbelievable. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, trying to let it all sink in before she continued on. It didn't necessarily look like it worked, because she looked exhausted. She had bags under her eyes. She looked older. Anna had always looked younger than she was, but right now she didn't. And that was strange.

"We arrived exactly on January 23, 1943, so I'm not exactly sure how the dates connect since we left in December, but.." She shrugged and went on, not dawdling on that. "Anyway, Agent MacFarlane was taken out upon arrival which we later disposed of in the harbor, but O'Hagan and Dadney managed to get away with the 0-8-4.

"Without many options, without many resources, we were left with no other option but to go to the SSR, specifically Colonel Phillips. We arranged a deal, that I'd make sure that the course of history remained the same, as well as helping them when I could, in exchange for information and resources.

"Once the deal was made, Agents Collend, Alenko and I reported to Camp Lehigh where we researched where our traitors could be. My belief, as of right now, is that they are in Europe aiding the original Hydra group with their efforts. I have no indication of what knowledge either O'Hagan, or Dadney know about what exactly goes down in history, but I have a pretty expansive understanding, so I'll keep at keeping the timeline as much the same as possible, but there's no knowing what's changed until we're back home where we belong.

"But as of right now, Project Rebirth went exactly as it had previously with the bombing in observation booth after Captain Rogers successfully came out of the experiment. As unfortunate it is to say that Dr. Erskine is dead, he is and…" Anna shook her head and trailed off. It was clear that knowing the person and knowing they were going to die, but couldn't do anything about the death you knew was coming at for a long time wasn't easy on her. "The point is, the timeline is the same so far.

"Captain Rogers has signed up with the USO, and will be performing soon enough. In the meantime, until he goes overseas, the SSR and my ragtag little group will be heading over to Italy. Mr. Stark will be there as well, keeping the troops supplied with this "new" technology.

"It's very clear where Tony gets his genius from. Or his looks...and his playboy behavior…"

Anna shook her head. "For now, that's all I have to report. I'll make another report as soon as I have something more concrete, or if anything changes. In the meantime, I'll get back to work and try to track down the rest of the Hydra traitors. Capture alive if possible for questioning, but I do authorize lethal force. There's too much at risk otherwise.

"I know they reported to Agent Sitwell. Whether he's the only other infiltrator within the organization, I don't know, but I'd assume not. I just hope we can return back home before anything else happens to warn Director Fury, and Agent Hill...and whomever else we need to bring into this, but this is really messed up. Who knows how deep this could go. It had to have taken years of planning, of infiltrating and lying right under our noses to be able to do this.

"I have no doubt in my mind that Agent James found out about this and was going to report it to Agent Hill. Maybe he had something else too, but we won't ever know that. There's no point it bringing it up again. May the man rest in piece. He was a good agent, from what I hear. He didn't deserve to go like this."

Anna shook her head again and sat up, having slumped while talking. "Anyway, that's it for now. This is Agent Carr signing off." Anna reached forward and hit a button, and the screen went blank.


I just want to let everyone know that these case files give hints to what is going to happen through the entirety of the First Avenger Arc. So you have to really keep your eyes out. Like, dissect numbers...and names...and the tiles, etc. These won't be every chapter, but every once in awhile. They're mean to kind of be reviews and looked at from the eyes of people somewhere in Cap 2, like Fury is looking through them, etc. Let me know what you guys end up finding.

Anyway, Steve and Anna go their separate ways, but Anna is going to Europe! I'm so excited for the chapters to come. I've got some filler stuff before we finally get to some of the bitter movie stuff like when Steve returns, but it honestly won't be too long of a wait. It's three filler chapters, but I know you guys will enjoy them.

Lastly, for those that didn't already hear, Inhumans will be coming to ABC as a new Marvel show.

Thanks go to the following for their reviews on the previous chapter:

Jedi Jelsa777: Well, you'll have plenty of time to catch up on AoS, seeing as this story hasn't even gotten to season 2 yet. It gets more spy like by the end of the last season.

FelixFelicis02 - I'm so glad you look forward to this story so much!

ShannenWinchester - Nah, that's really what Anna was all about. There's so much pain and how she moves forward is really what her story is about. She's human. That's what I like about her.