Thanks to ElizabethCullen08, CrazyCountryGirl12, Anubis Cloudly and sailorraven34 for your reviews on last chapter :)

I ended up listening to Christmas music while writing this for some inspiration. It's SEPTEMBER and I've got Silent Night stuck in my head. The things I do for this story…

Natasha yawned loudly as she walked towards the apartment door. Another day, another long and boring meeting with Hill and Carter.

She stepped inside the quiet apartment looking for any sign of her daughter. "Anna?"

"In here!" Anna called from her bedroom. Natasha walked into the hallway, almost tripping over the large pile of Anna's clothes outside Anna's door. Every article of clothing was in varying shades of red. She stepped back as a red t-shirt was thrown from inside the bedroom and onto the pile.

Raising an eyebrow Natasha stepped over the clothes and looked into Anna's bedroom to see all of Anna's clothes spread all over the room.

"Doing a little spring cleaning." Anna sat on her knees, digging through some of the clothes. She found a dark red scarf and scowled, tossing it out the door.

"In December?" Natasha stared at the pile, smirking.

"Getting a head start." Anna shrugged. Natasha sat down on the ground beside Anna. She helped her sort through the clothes, pulling out anything and everything that looked remotely red.

"We just bought some of these clothes." Natasha commented, looking at a red blouse Anna hadn't even worn yet.

"A year ago doesn't count as 'just bought'" Anna shook her head.

"You weren't here to wear them, therefore 'just bought' is correct."

"Pretty sure that's not how time works." Anna laughed a little.

"Don't argue with your mother. Don't you know I'm always right?" Natasha grinned.

"Yes ma'am." Anna rolled her eyes. She looked down at a blue t-shirt in her hands before folding it carefully and placing it back on the ground.

"So…" Natasha tossed a red skirt into the growing pile. "I'm sensing a theme here?"

"What do you mean?" Anna frowned.

"Hey, I get it." Natasha turned towards her daughter. "I didn't wear red for a long time after I got out. I even dyed my hair black-"

"Ew, black doesn't suit you-"

"I know." Natasha grinned, running a hand through her hair. "It's fine. We can donate all the red to a shelter or something."

"Sounds nice." Anna smiled softly. Natasha watched her daughter and sighed.

"Anna-"

"Don't." Anna shook her head. "I know what you're going to say and just… don't-"

"Anna it's been a week-"

"-I said I'm sorry."

"That doesn't excuse you going missing, we still don't know where you went! Not to mention the kick-"

"I didn't mean to do it!" Anna stood up, hurrying out of the room. Natasha chased after her into the living room

"Everything okay?" Steve asked as he walked into the apartment. Anna grimaced at the fading line above his brow.

"I didn't mean to do it…" Anna muttered, shaking her head. "You grabbed my arm and I did what they told me. What they said to do-"

"It's okay Anna-" Natasha stepped towards her daughter.

"Don't!" Anna balled her hands into raised fists. Natasha and Steve stared at her cautiously as they stood still. Anna's gaze lowered to her fists in fear. She put them down slowly. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Steve said softly.

"It's not…" Anna's fear disgust quickly turned to anger. "It's not alright I shouldn't be here…"

"…Where should you be, Anna?" Natasha asked carefully. "Anna, you're home. You're safe here."

"But you aren't." Anna shook her head.

"Anna we're fine." Steve took another step towards Anna who's fists raised again. She put them back down in mortified frustration.

"No no no I'm not supposed to do this…" Steve and Natasha weren't sure if Anna was talking to them anymore.

"Not supposed to do what?" Natasha asked. Anna glared angrily before staring down at the floor again. Steve knelt down slowly.

"It's alright, Anna." He smiled, causing Anna to stare in confusion. "It's just your mom and I. We just want to make sure you're safe."

"You're not doing a very good job… No no I'm sorry no." Anna wrapped her arms around herself, backing up towards the wall.

"You're safe-"

"STOP SAYING THAT!"Anna raised a fist before spinning around quickly, slamming it into the wall. The wall cracked around her fist loudly. She slowly lowered her pain hand, staring at the blood dripping from her knuckles.

Steve approached her quickly, pulling her into a tight hug. She struggled before sighing, burying her head into his chest. "It's alright…We're gonna figure this out."

Steve and Natasha stood outside of Dr. Sanchez's office, waiting to pick Anna up. It had been 3 days since the red clothes incident and Anna actually seemed to be looking forward to her appointment.

The door creaked open as Anna and her doctor stepped out. "Hey, how'd it go?" Steve wrapped his arm around Anna's shoulder, walking with her towards the door. Natasha looked at Dr. Sanchez nervously.

"It went great, Agent Romanov." The doctor smiled reassuringly. "But… Anna's condition seems to be deteriorating."

"I noticed."

"I don't think trying to make everything go back to normal is helping. She said she… attacked Captain Rogers?"

"She didn't mean to-"

"That's what she said. It was instinctual." Dr. Sanchez nodded slowly. "She's afraid of hurting you. And the rest of the team. Perhaps… spending some time with Dr. Banner might help."

"Bruce? I really think you'd be more qualified-"

"Not in a formal medical setting. Maybe just… lunches once a week. Don't make a big deal out of it, maybe even tell Anna it was his idea. She's so terrified of hurting you or Steve that she can't open up. Anna doesn't feel in control and… if anyone else knows what she's feeling it would be Dr. Banner. I'll still be seeing her every other week incase it doesn't go to plan."

"I'll… think about." Natasha nodded. "Thank you."

"You know you've inspired a tower wide downsizing." Bruce grinned. "Everybody's cleaning out their old clothes now. Got rid of half my closet."

"Not the purple button up right?" Anna asked nervously "I love that shirt."

"No no I could never part with the purple button up. It's becoming my trademark." Bruce watched Anna flip through her menu. "What're you getting?"

"I was thinking kebabs."

"Oh yeah, me too." Bruce nodded.

"Bruce."

"Hmm?"

"This is an Italian place. They don't have kebabs." Anna said dryly. "You've been too busy worried about me to check the menu. So, when are you going to tell me why we're actually here?"

"…You get more like Natasha everyday." Bruce chuckled, shaking his head. Anna raised an eyebrow impatiently. "Alright… I'll get the veal parmesan."

"Bruce?" Anna raised an eyebrow.

"What? I can't just invite you out to lunch?"

"One, you hate eating at restaurants. You said it makes you feel like you're being watched and two, you suddenly invite me out just after my appointment with Dr. Sanchez. Pretty suspicious if you ask me." Anna sipped her water.

"Alright… You caught me." Bruce raised his hands in surrender. "It wasn't my idea. Your psych thought it would be a good idea for us to talk. Said you've had issues with… control."

"Ah." Anna relaxed in her chair. She smirked. "And you're an expert on maintaining control."

"I know right." Bruce shook his head. "Not that I don't want to spend time with you."

"I like hanging out with you." Anna said honestly.

"Good." Bruce smiled. He looked around nervously, noticing a group of people staring at him. Anna turned to see them and frowned.

"You wanna go?" She asked quietly.

"Yes please."

Anna and Bruce walked through the snow covered central park, sipping warm to-go cups of coffee. Bruce looked over at Anna and laughed.

"What?" Anna frowned.

"I can't believe you're 18 in two months…" Bruce smiled. "It seems like just a few weeks ago we were saving you from crazy scientists and now here you are. All big and strong."

"…I mean technically."

"The first time." Bruce shook his head. "So… you thinking about colleges or anything?"

Anna busted out laughing. "Bruce, I haven't gone to proper school since I was twelve what college would take me?"

"You speak like 5 languages now, that's got to be impressive on a transcript. Besides we've tutored you. We could do some crazy crash course and get you a GED."

"I don't think saying 'tutored by Ironman and the Hulk' will get me accepted to NYU." Anna shook her head with a grin. "Besides… I don't think that kind of thing is for me."

"What do you mean?"

"It's way too normal. I'm the daughter of two genetically enhanced secret agents born in the 1920's. A normal life isn't in the cards for someone like me…"

"Anna, you can do whatever you want. It's your life."

"Doesn't feel like it is." Anna stared at her coffee cup absent-mindedly. They walked towards a snow covered bench. Brushing it off Anna and Bruce sat down, staring at Avenger's Tower in the distance. "You know when I was little… ahh never mind."

"Tell me."

"I just… When I was like 9 or 10 all I wanted was to be a SHIELD agent." A soft smiled pulled on the corner of Anna's lips.

"Really?" Bruce smiled, raising his eyebrows.

"I knew I couldn't but I just wanted to so badly. Now I can and I don't know if I want to." She sipped her coffee slowly. "…I've seen the ugly side of it all you know? And if I became and agent I'd just see more and more."

"You would." Bruce agreed.

"Does it get easier?" Anna turned towards him quickly. Bruce sighed.

"It doesn't seem like it will at first. But the team and I… we all know that what we do saves people's lives. We know that by seeing some of the ugly stuff we stop good people from seeing it. That definitely helps us sleep at night. But I don't know if it gets easier.

"I know I could help people. Everything they taught me… I'd be an great agent." Anna stared at her boots. "Is it selfish of me? Not wanting to so I don't have to see the bad stuff?"

"No." Bruce said honestly. "Like I said before, it's your life. There's nothing selfish about making decisions to protect yourself."

"…I have no idea what I want to do." Anna shrugged. She laughed. "I guess that makes me a normal 17 year old."

"Certainly more normal than I was." Bruce smiled.

"You knew you wanted to be a scientist?"

"I wanted to help people with my studies… Didn't exactly get what I wanted." Bruce sighed.

"You're an Avenger. Seems a bit more exciting if you ask me." Anna shrugged.

"I still can't believe you wanted to be a SHIELD agent." Bruce looked up at the snow covered building.

"I thought about doing more than just that." Anna crossed her legs. "I figured if I got good enough I could lead a new team of Avengers… Let you guys retire, save the world all that crap."

"Ahh retirement… I sure wouldn't mind that." Bruce grinned.

"It was just childhood daydreams, Bruce." Anna shook her head. Bruce watched her carefully.

" You'd be a good leader you know."

"Huh. So long as I don't freak out and kill everyone on my team, yeah. I'd be a great leader." Anna frowned.

"…Control is hard to maintain. But it is possible." Bruce said sincerely. "It's only been a few weeks, Anna. You need to give it time."

"How long did it take you?" Anna turned toward Bruce.

"Longer than I'd like to admit." Bruce took a deep breath. "And I can still feel it. Doesn't go away."

"That's comforting."

"It should be. This kind of trauma doesn't go away but you can live with it. Hell, if I'm as functional as I am you absolutely can be."

"…I'm turning into what they wanted me to be." Anna said quietly. "Every time I go to sleep I hear Kristov telling me what to do and when I wake up… All that stuff I said to my dad about being a freak and wishing I was never born. They told me to think like that and now I am. And it terrifies me."

"Have you talked to Dr. Sanchez about this?" Bruce asked, clear concern in his voice.

"A little." Anna shrugged. She looked down at her coffee cup and realized her hands were shaking. Bruce laid his hand over Anna's, causing her to look up at him. He smiled comfortingly. Anna relaxed slightly, chuckling. "Thanks Bruce. For 'hanging out'."

"Don't thank me. I had fun." Bruce shook his head.

"Me too." Anna nodded. "We should spend more time together."

"Dr. Sanchez suggested we schedule in once a week." Bruce shrugged.

"Sounds good to me." Anna smiled, standing up. "Let's go home. It's freezing out here."

"So… where's he taking you?" Pepper asked Bobbi excitedly as the two sat down on the common room couch. Anna looked up from her book, raising an eyebrow. Clint was sitting down beside her, pretending not to be listening.

"A whole weekend in Zurich." Bobbi smiled. "Early Christmas vacation."

"I love Switzerland." Pepper smiled. "Tony took me there for a spring getaway a few years ago. Most romantic vacation I've ever been on."

"If turn into either of them, shoot me." Anna whispered, making Clint laugh. He leaned over to Anna.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" He whispered.

"Uhh. Sure?" Anna followed Clint into the hall.

"…Are you sweating?" She leaned against the wall.

"No. Well, yes." Clint reached into his pocket, pulling out a silver band decorated with white diamonds. Anna's eyes widened slightly.

"Clint, don't you think you should at least take me out to dinner first?" Anna smirked.

"What? No, this isn't for you-"

"I know, I'm not a moron." Anna rolled her eyes. "So… this is the reason behind the 'early Christmas trip to Zurich'?"

"Do you think she'll say yes?" Clint asked, clearly nervous.

"I think she's been waiting to say yes for months now." Anna laughed

"What?"

"Clint, I'm pretty sure she knows. And she's going to say yes all you have to do is ask."

"I don't want to mess this up…"

"You've been dating for years, Clint. You're ready." Anna smiled. "Does my mom know?"

"She went with me to pick the ring. Which surprised me actually, considering weddings aren't really her thing."

"What are you two whispering about?" Bobbi called.

"Nothing!" Clint said quickly. Anna could hear Pepper and Bobbi snickering in the other room.

'Oh yeah. She knows.' Anna thought to herself, smiling. They walked back into the common room.

"I was just asking, Anna what she wanted me to bring her from Zurich." Clint said, sitting down.

"You couldn't do that in here?" Bobbi raised an eyebrow, smiling.

"You two are so loud I could barely hear he answer." He lied.

"Maybe we should get your hearing aids checked, Babe." Bobbi laughed, lightly tugging on Clint's ear. Steve walked into the common room, carrying a large backpack.

"Hey Pepper is Tony ready?" He asked, putting his bag down.

"He's recalibrating something. Said he'll be down in a minute." Pepper shrugged.

"Alright, I can wait."

"Although…That was 3 hours ago." Pepper admitted. Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Pepper stood up and walked out into the hall. "I'll go find him."

"You'd better be back for Christmas." Anna frowned. Steve rolled his eyes.

"I've told you 100 times. It's only a 3 day mission. Christmas is weeks away."

"You and Tony have a mission, Mom and Bucky are on a mission… Haven't bad guys heard of a christmas break?" Anna frowned.

"Yeah, I wish." Steve kissed the top of Anna's head. He grinned mischievously.

"What?" Anna looked up.

"I just don't want you to worry… Cause IIIIIIII'll be hoooooooooome for christmaaaaaas…" He sang.

"Oh god…" Anna groaned standing up.

"Yooooouuuuu can coouuuunt ooooon meeeeeeee." Steve followed Anna as she walked towards the elevator, making Bobbi and Clint laugh.

"You're so embarrassing!" Anna whined, half laughing as Steve danced behind her.

"IIII'll be hooooome for chrriiiiistmasss."

"Don't follow me in here!" Anna walked into the elevator quickly.

"If ooooonly in my dreeeeeeeeams!"

"I hate you."

"Bruce?" Anna called, walking into the tower's large laboratory. "Bruuuuuuce?"

"Yeah?" Bruce poked his head up from behind a monitor.

"Hey." Anna smiled. "Mom's in Turkey, Dad's in Dubai and Pepper's got some meeting in Seattle so it's just us for a day or two."

"Hey, we can't forget JARVIS." Bruce stood up, pointing towards the ceiling.

"Oh yeah I forgot… No offense J." Anna looked up.

"None taken, Miss Anna."

"So. What're you up to?" Anna peaked at the screen. "Something scientific-ey?"

"Not quite…" Bruce chuckled. "Ordering presents."

"Ahh." Anna nodded. She rocked back and forth, smirking. "Sooooo, what're you getting me?"

"Not telling." Bruce turned the screen off.

"You're no fun." Anna pouted.

"I know, I'm the worst man in the world." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Almost done?" Bucky watched Natasha pick the office's lock. She glanced up at him before returning to her work.

"Watch the hallway not me." She muttered. Bucky sighed, going back on lookout. The door clicked open loudly.

"The Red Room's gotten lazy with their security." Bucky whispered as they stepped inside the room.

"Alright… Let's look around." Natasha said, passing Bucky a pair of gloves.

"Can't that program run any faster, Stark?" Steve sighed, glaring at the screen.

"It's running off a usb the size of my thumbnail. Give it time, Rogers." Tony frowned, watching the decrypting program load. "Anybody coming?"

"Why yes. There's an entire troop aiming rifle's at us. Forgot to mention it." Steve said dryly.

"You know, you're not as funny as you think you are."

"Bruce, why are you so intent on knowing about my future?" Anna laughed.

"Anna, you're 17 it's important! I don't see what's wrong with my curiosity!" Bruce shrugged.

"You know what I think is important?" Anna leaned towards Bruce's computer. "Christmas presents."

"No no no no no, back away from the computer young lady."

"Check this out. It's a bunch of letters" Bucky passed a large stack of envelopes to Natasha.

"James, do you see what these are?" Natasha frowned, opening the envelopes. "Copies of SHIELD mission reports, schedules, agent profiles…"

"How's that possible? They're protected, not even Fury can get to some of this." Bucky frowned, looking over all of the papers.

"…Someone at SHIELD's feeding them information."

"Taadaa. Didn't take so long now did it?" Tony grinned as the program finished. "Whoa check this out."

Tony scrolled through a long list of chemical formulas and equations.

"Care to explain what these mean?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Well I can't… but google sure as hell can."

"What the…"

"What is it?" Natasha leaned over to see the paper Bucky was holding.

"It's a scan of Barton's vacation leave request for him and Bobbi in Zurich. The date's circled."

"Why would they care about that unless…"

"Alright I found it." Tony said, looking at the results his helmet's mainframe was giving him. "We've got testosterone over here, cortisol, glucose, adrenaline… A bunch of hormones. Stuff they gave, Anna?"

"Maybe…" Steve frowned. "Wait, what's this?"

"Huh?" Tony lifted his faceplate, staring in confusion. Steve zoomed in on a small diagram. "It's a bullet."

"It's a dart." Steve frowned

"The missions we're on are circled." Natasha's voice was growing more panicked as they sorted through more documents. "Look. There's us and there's Steve and Tony's."

"They've been tracking whenever Thor's in Asgard too." Bucky grabbed another page.

"The hell do they want with a dart full of hormones?" Steve frowned.

"So they can give Anna really bad PMS?"

"You know Tony, you're not as funny as you think."

"I know." Tony shrugged "Hey, look. It's supposed to be loaded into a gun."

"What?" Steve and Tony leaned to look at the screen closely.

"Clint, Thor, Steve, Tony, you and me." Natasha sat on the desk, crossing her arms. "They knew all of us were going to be out of the country, away from Anna."

"It's a perfect window." Bucky nodded. "All of the Avengers, gone at once."

"…Not all of us."

"Oh my god…"

"How could we be so stupid?"

"We've got to get back. Now."

"Anna?" Bruce looked around the lab as he heard the door open and close. He was met by nothing but silence. "Anna?"

"Hey." Anna smiled, walking around from behind a large machine. Bruce sighed in relief.

"You scared me." He chuckled.

"Sorry." Anna shrugged. She was carrying two plates of food. "Thought I'd surprise you with lunch."

"Ohh, grilled cheese." Bruce took a plate, smiling.

"Might be a little burnt. Surprisingly the fine art of grilled cheese making wasn't on the Red Room's schedule."

"Mmm, they're great. Thank you." Bruce said, taking a bite.

"I added a little ham, figured it would taste-" Anna flinched, at the repeating sound of breaking glass. She ducked on instinct, taking cover against Bruce's desk. Bruce landed on the ground with a loud thud.

"Ow…" He groaned. Anna peaked up from behind the desk, seeing nothing but broken glass.

"What the hell?" Looking around the room she spotted several small white tubes littering the floor and sticking out of the wall. Walking towards them she plucked one out of the wall. It was a small dart filled with a watery looking liquid. She could hear Bruce standing up behind her. "You alright there, Bruce?"

"Hmm." He answered with a cough.

"Careful, old man." Anna smiled a little, looking back at the dart, reading the label. "Adrenaline, Cortisol, Glucose, Testosterone… Bruce what does this mean?" Anna turned just in time to see Bruce pull a small white object out of his neck. One of the darts. He lost his balance before falling down behind a large piece of equipment. "Bruce!"

"Hmm?" He answered lowly. Anna approached towards the desk, putting the dart down on the counter.

"Bruce, are you alright?"

"Anna…" His voice was low. Far too low. Anna's eyes widened and she felt her heart stop.

"JARVIS… Lock down the tower. Now." She said, staring ahead

"Yes Ma'am."

Anna backed away slowly as thick metal slabs lowered over every window and outer wall in the entire tower, locking into place with a loud click.

"Lock down successful."

"…Bruce?" Anna spoke with a shaky voice. A low growl echoed in the room, making Anna back away faster. "…Oh god."

A large green mass crashed into view and Anna took off running.

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