Disclaimer: I don't own anything marvel, I just own Anna.

Chapter 10

Over There

The plane rocked, and Anna grabbed a hold of the seat tighter, closing her eyes as tight as they'd go until the flight got a tad bit smoother. This was hell. She hated flying, and that was in modern day planes. 1940's planes? Even more so. They were fucking death traps, and if anybody tried to tell her otherwise, they would get such an earful they wouldn't be able to hear for a week.

Marcus was sitting across from her, and he chuckled looking at her. "Having fun?" he asked.

"Oh, shut up, Marcus," Anna said. "You know I hate flying."

"Statistically, it's the safest way to travel."

Anna looked up to see Howard Stark moving down the aisle, a drink in his hand, the other bracing himself so he didn't fall over when the plane had turbulence. He smirked and took a sip of his drink, right before the plane dropped. Somehow he managed not to spill the liquid though. Probably a whole lot of practice to not waste any.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Anna said. "But thank you for trying, Mr. Stark."

"Please, call me Howard. Mr. Stark is my father," he insisted, taking his hand away from the top to shake Anna's. "And you are Ms. Anna Carr. I've seen you around, saw you during Project Rebirth."

"Really? I didn't think I was that noticeable," Anna admitted.

"It's hard not to notice such naturally beautiful you are. You have a beautiful innocent look about you," he complimented.

Okay, sure he's young and kinda good looking, but I'd really prefer not to get hit on by Tony's father, Anna thought. "Thank you, Howard, but I'd prefer to keep things strictly prof-"

"She's taken," Marcus piped up.

"Oh, are you?" Howard asked.

"No!" Anna corrected. "Marcus!"

"Oh, is it you two? My apologies, my good man," Howard said.

"Oh, no," Anna said.

"God, no. Ew," Marcus cringed.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say ew," Anna glared.

"And neither would I," He said, leaning against her seat. "So, who's the lucky fella?"

"Nobody, I'm not-"

"Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers' best friend," Marcus said, smirking knowingly.

"Oh, you did not just-"

"Is that so?" Howard asked.

"So that's why you're so chummy with Rogers? You want to make a good impression with his best make, so he'll chat you up to Barnes?" Howard went on.

"No, that's not-"

"I'm sure it is. She's had a thing for him ever since she laid eyes on him."

"Would you sto-"

"Love at first sight? How romantic. You don't seem like a romantic.
"Oh, she is. I'm sure you could try to steal her away though. Flowers, chocolates, a place on the beach…"

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Anna snapped.

"Well, maybe I'll just have to keep that in mine. Anna," he nods, giving her a wink before going back up to the front of the plane.

Anna snapped her head to Marcus and gave him a death glare. He just cracked up laughing. "You're so dead," Anna threatened. She was about to lunge at him when the plane dropped again, causing her to groan and cling to her seat. That just made him laugh harder.

This is gonna be a long flight…

Italy was hard. Ever since she had lost her parents there, she could never think of nice things about it. She knew there was. Wine, beautiful vineyards. Pasta, history, art to just name a few, but whenever it was mentioned, all she could image was pain, blood, and death.

So instead of getting caught up in those horrible memories, Anna decided to throw herself into her work even more so than she already had. Every time they moved further north, she'd stay in the truck. She didn't want to see the war around her, or even the parts that hadn't been too affected by war. She didn't want to see any of it.

She did have to leave every so often though. She could eat and sleep in the truck, but she had to go to the restroom and get clean somehow. Plus, there was meetings with Colonel Phillips, Peggy, and leads she had to follow through on where the traitors were. Leaving and seeing Italy was only one of the inconveniences though. If Anna thought the catcalls back at boot amp were bad, it was a hundred times worse here.

Anna was good at ignoring them. Sometimes it was kind of flattering. Only on the occasion where a guy would say something along the lines of "Isn't see an angel in hell. Give me strength." That was only once though, and usually the things they said just made her feel slimy. The inappropriate talk reminded her of working in New York with tweedledee and tweedledum again.

Anna had been kneeling on the ground in front of a couple German POWs waiting to be transported out of there looking for leads into Hydra, but most of them were just apart of the regular army, and nothing to do with the stuff that went on at Hydra. She spoke to them in German to make them feel more comfortable. A lot of the soldiers around didn't speak German, so they didn't know what was being said.

A group of men walking back from the mess were laughing and talking as they walked by. They caught sight of Anna in her skirt, and her white blouse, she had taken off the jacket because it was God awfully hot in Italy in July.

It was another reason to stay inside the cool truck. It was where she thought best, where she worked best. She even remember to send Steve a birthday Present, which had already been sent out and would hopefully get to him on the 4th, his actual birthday. She had gotten information of where he'd be touring on his birthday, so she just hoped he'd get the sketchbook and pencils. She had given him some in the future as well, but for an artist you could never get enough paper and pencils.

But that had been dealt with a while ago. Now she was dealing with these POWs in German.

"Bud, look at that girl."

"What the hell is she doing here?"

"Man, what I would give to spend the night with her. Wouldn't you?"

"No, I'm married."

"So? Your wife isn't here."

"Just because you're not monogamous, doesn't mean he can't be."

"Man, I bet if I followed her to her tent tonight, she'd take care of me. I'd definitely take care of her…"

"That's one sexy broad."

"Leave the girl alone."

"She's probably a call girl on the side. Wonder how much she asks for…"

One of the guys as they walked by grabbed her ass. There was no way he was going to get away with that. She lipped Jern Slange out from the holster on her thigh under her skirt. She twisted her wrist extending it out and as it did so, it knocked him off of his feet. She pressed her heeled shoe onto his neck, the end of the staff on his chest keeping him down.

"What the...Get off me, you bitch!"

"What?" Anna asked, pressing her foot down harder. "Oh, don't liked to be touch? I'm sorry, maybe you should've kept our hands to yourself to begin with, and we could've avoided this whole situation, you fucking misogynistic prick."

"Anna?"

Anna looked up, glare still on her pretty face. Her gray eyes familiar blue eyes. She tilted her head a degree, and her got a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Bucky."

Bucky Barnes was standing at the other side of the group, hands in his pockets. He definitely wasn't as clean cut as he had been the last time she had saw him, but there was something quite charming about the scruffy look, and his growing hair. The dark hair made his light eyes stick out even more.

"Well, if it isn't Sergeant Barnes!" Anna chuckled. She didn't move off of the other guy though. "This is a pleasant surprise seeing you here. Of all the places the army is located, I run into you here."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, smile clear on his face.

"I'm working with the SSR," she said. She figured she could tell him now that they were here and she didn't have to worry about ruining the deal back home.

"You did say if you told me you'd have to kill me," he said.

"I did say that. I say that a lot, actually…" Anna laughed. The guy under her tried to get up, but she pushed him back down. "Nu-uh. You're not going anywhere yet, you perv."

"Apologize to her, Private," Barnes said.

"But-"

"That's an order, Private," he threatened.

"I'm sorry…"

"Yeah, right," Anna scoffed, but she let him up anyways. He scurried to his feet and moved to the other side of the group. Anna instead turned fully to Bucky, letting Jern Slange shrink. She smiled brighter, her eyes soft as she moved closer to him. "It's so nice to see you, Bucky." She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He greedily hugged her back, burying his nose into her neck. "You're a sight for sore eyes," he admitted. "How have you been? How's Steve?"

"Steve's fine, you have nothing to worry about," Anna told him. "He's doing great, actually."

He looked very relieved. "Good, good," he said. "And you?"

"Oh, you know, dying from the head and guys are playing grab ass, but it's nothing I can't deal with," Anna said.

"If someone bothers you, just let me know. I'll take care of it,"

Anna smiled sweetly. It wasn't every day some handsome guy wanted to protected her like that. "I know you would," she said. "That's very sweet of you Bucky, thank you. And if I can't deal with it on my own, I'll come your way."

"Promise?" He asked, not letting her go.

"I promise."

"It's so good to see a familiar face," Bucky said, looking straight into her eyes. "Honestly, I never thought I'd see you and your smile again."

Anna blushes. Actually blushed, and looked away when he said that. "I know what you mean. Do you think you'll be here a little while?"

"Probably," he said. "Why?"

"I'll make you dinner tonight. It's gotta be better than the stuff they're serving here," Anna offered.

"You want to cook for me?"

"Sure, it'll be refreshing to have you around. Better company than Marcus and Tucker lately. They're driving me crazy."

"I'd love to," he said. "I'll take as much of your time as I an get."

Anna smiled and hugged him tightly again. "Oh, I'm so happy you're okay," she said before pulling back. "Oh, and Bucky?"

"Yeah?"

"You smell like horse shit."

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 ..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 JULY 11, 1943. 08:35

The camera turned on, and Anna sat back in her chair to relax as she gave her report. Her hair was tired back, and she was wearing just a tank top and a pair of shorts that were very clearly just meant for sleeping in. In the background Agent Marcus Alenko was asleep, and Agent Tucker Collend sat working on the machine that had contained the 0-8-4.

"This is Agent Anna Carr, ID A01492866 recording this log on July 11, 1943 at 08:35. There hasn't been much progress with finding Agents O'Hagan and Dadney, and that concerns me. I know they have to be here in Europe, but staying in Italy makes it difficult to follow leads that we may get, and because Colonel Phillips keeps denying my requests. I know the guy is important and all, but he can be a grade a-asshole sometimes. I gotta respect what he's doing though. I wouldn't want to be the one calling those short."

Anna shifted in her seat, grabbing a notebook to fan herself with. "There is good news on reconstructing the container that held the 0-8-4 though."

Tucker popped his head up and gave a thumbs up to the camera.

"Thank God for you, Tuck. I don't think we'd ever be able to get home if it weren't for you and your brains." Anna smirked when she saw him duck his head and blush at the compliment. "Anyway, I thought I'd just report the progress on that, though I'm sure Tucker's been keeping track of his progress as well. It's good to have thorough records though so…"

Anna trailed off and stared off at the keyboard in front of her for a good long moment before she looked back up, though not at the camera. It was more like she was just talking to get some stuff off her chest instead. "Today's my birthday," she admitted, which wasn't something she really did anymore. "I can't decide if I should count this time to my age or not. I think so, since I'm actually living it, each day that goes by. But I honestly don't know what time it will be when we get back, so it's all very confusing. I mean, am I twenty, or am I still nineteen?"

"I didn't know it was your birthday," Tucker said. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks Tuck," Anna said, giving him a sad smile.

"I don't really like my birthday," Anna said. "Not since my eighteenth, the day my brother died….Agent Carter told me happy birthday today. I'm not sure how she knew, but then again, she is thee Agent Peggy Carter. I shouldn't be surprised...I liked that she knew, and said something though…

"I really like Peggy. Growing up, she was one of my biggest heroes, especially being in the SHIELD program that I was in growing up. I wanted to be strong and brave just like her. I wanted to be just like that, and I wanted people to respect me too. After all, I got a lot of shit from most people about my age. And yes, I agree, I needed to be trained. Maybe not academy training, but the training I got getting assigned to Agent Coulson. I learned a lot from him." Anna nodded, thinking about all of it. "But even when I was doing that, and now even after, people don't respect me. I've done a lot, maybe they don't know what I've done. I don't really need them to, but it would be appreciated if they'd stop undermining my abilities and just let me do my job. I can do my job."

"But that wasn't where I was going with that. People say you shouldn't meet your heroes, but I really think in this case it's not like that. Agent Carter is exactly what you get from the stories. She's brilliantly intelligent, she kicks butt, and she doesn't need other people to validate her worth for her. Plus, she's really pretty and you have to respect a woman that gets harassed like attractive woman do and not get affected by it.

"But what I really appreciate from meeting her, other than learning so much from her, is that I've learned that she's also human. When you hear the stories, you don't always think of the person as an actual person. They're just bigger than life. Kinda like the Avengers, I guess. SHe made me realize that she was all of those things, but she was also still human. You know? She's human, just like me, overcoming things that I've had to overcome too, and so it's nice to know that it can be done, and that you can push through it.

"Anyway, I don't know why I said that, but I'm glad I did. Even the people that look at this later need to realize that too, I guess. People need to be reminded about humanity. So this is Agent Carr signing off."

And the Camera went black.

I had a lot of fun with Marcus and Howard, then writing Bucky. It was just such a light chapter to do, even with the talk about her parents death. It was just so much fun to have banter and some flirting, which is really what Anna needed, in my opinion. Work and no play leave Anna a dull little agent. Let me know what you guys think, and if Bucky felt in character or ooc. The feedback would really be appreciated. I have trouble writing him for some reason.

As a side note, I'm really enjoying writing these reports too. I really think it gives you more insight as to how Anna thinks and feels, especially with her state of mind being in this time. Let me know if you guys like them too.

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

FelixFelicis02- There are clues everywhere lol.

abstract0118- It'll be w while til they get home.

Jedi Jelsa777- I know, there's so many shows to watch! I'm the same way with my DC shows. The only one I kept up with regularly was Supergirl. Binging them is far less stressful.