Anna POV

Walking into the new SSR base, I stopped at the door and tried not to smile.

With Steve now leading a team to take down HYDRA, the SSR moved it's base of operations to London. It was in the basement of the same building my apartment was in. It was a large building, 6 stories. The first and second were a cover; a store run by a family that lived on the second floor. The rest of the floor where apartments for the people that worked in the bunker-like basement.

As I walked into the basement, I couldn't help but realize the size of it; it most likely took up the space under two or three of the surrounding buildings. Maybe the whole block.

"What'd'ya think doll?" Howard asked, sauntering up to me with a grin.

"A bit chaotic, don't you think?" I asked, following him as he wove easily through the people and desks.

"Yep." Howard confirmed, waving me over to one of the industrial sliding doors along one of the walls. "C'mere, wanna show you something." He said as he pushed one open.

I gaped as I looked at the room behind him. Tables full of lab equipment of the highest quality, empty chalkboards along the walls, and an empty desk next to another set of industrial doors.

"Lordy." I breathed, shoving my bag at Howard to look at some of the equipment on the tables.

"Yeah, thought you'd like this part." Howard said, tossing my bag on the empty desk. "Philips took a little convincing, but the idea of more Steve's walking around was a damn good incentive."

Unable to think about anything besides what I could do now that I had this equipment, I nodded dumbly.

"I know that look." Howard chuckled. "I'll let you play with your new toys. I'm right through…here." He said, shoving the other industrial doors open to show another lab.

"Uh-huh." I nodded, looking over the files and envelopes on the desk. I heard Howard chuckle as he left.

Finding a heavier envelope with the big red 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamp on it. I ripped the top of the envelope open and pulled out the papers. I was slightly disappointed that they didn't sent the blood back; that meant if I wanted to run my own tests I'd have to stick another needle in Bucky's arm. It didn't look like I'd have to though. Other than a slightly high white blood cell count, there were no anomalies or apparent changes in his blood.

I sighed and sat in my desk chair, spinning around to look at the lab in front of me. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Even though Lyle was here.

"Well, found you." I heard the all too familiar voice of none other than Bucky Barnes say behind me. I wanted to leave, say that I had to talk to one of the other scientists or something, but it had to be after midnight and they were all gone. The last one, a lab assistant, I had to practically order him to go get some sleep. Silas Lenard; after the lesser Roman god of forests. That's exactly how he introduced himself. He was from rural Pennsylvania and a current grad student at Yale. He was a very enthusiastic, willing to do just about anything to help and with a smile. It was nice to have someone like that in here, made it all a little happier.

I sat a little straighter at my desk, but didn't turn around. "Should-Shouldn't you be…Getting ready for the first raid, or…something?" I asked quietly. Every time Bucky crossed my mind now I thought about what he had told me in the elevator.

"We're not heading out until every one of us has the A-OK from Dr. Matt. And since he says that won't be for at least a week, looks like we're stuck here 'till then." Bucky explained. I still hadn't turned around, but I'd stopped writing.

"Uh-huh." I said dumbly, playing with the pencil I'd been writing with as I waited for him to speak again.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Bucky chuckled behind me. "So, are you gonna turn around…Or…?"

I shyly peeked at my shoulder. It seemed almost impossible that one man could look so handsome in just a simple pair of cargo pants, a plain white t-shirt (that was a little less than white) with, what appeared to be, the kelly green jacket/shirt he wore back when we were both still at the boot camp in New Jersey.

"Hi." I said dumbly as I looked at Bucky leaning against a table a few feet behind me.

"Hi." Bucky repeated, that smug little grin on his face. As he looked at me, his smirk fell and his eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I answered automatically.

"You little liar." Bucky said teasingly, but it didn't last long. He stood up from the table he was leaning on and smoothly shoved a file box closer to my chair and sat on it. "C'mon Glow, what's wrong?" He asked again. The file box was a good half-a-foot shorter than my chair, but since Bucky was so tall, we were about eye level; which meant I could see those crystal blue orbs, framed with thick dark lashes clearly.

I looked at my lap and shifted uncomfortably. "What you said last night…" I trailed off, then chuckled cynically. "I gotta ask myself why someone like you would get stuck on someone like me."

"Now that, is crazy talk." Bucky said with just the right amount of teasing to make me feel a little better, but his tone was serious. "If anything, I gotta ask myself why a smart girl like you can't wrap her head around the fact that someone's taken a shine to her."

A muscle in my cheek twitched, but I didn't look up at him. "The Spanish flu." I finally said, picking at a stray string on my skirt.

"Hm?" Bucky asked.

"The," I paused to clear my throat. "The Spanish flu."

"I…I don't understand." Bucky finally said after a few thoughtful moments.

"One theory about why the Spanish flu spread so quickly was the close quarters and massive movements of troops in the War a few decades ago." I started to explain. "My…My dad was a medic in France, with the Army."

I saw Bucky's eyebrows raise a little; he didn't know I came from a military family, aside from Billy. "I remember once I asked my dad for help on my homework. I was just a kid, seven or eight, so I didn't know that when a parent comes home, takes off his tie and drinks whisky straight from the bottle you should leave them alone." I peeked up at Bucky, and I could tell he didn't like where this was going. I sat up, slouching back in my seat and let out a heavy sigh.

"'Get back in your room you little smart ass. My God, you're just like the flu!'" I quoted my father, glancing back at my hands as I played with my fingers. I didn't like talking about my family with many people. I only ever talked to my family with Kiku, but that was only because she was the human lie detector and could tell if I was upset about something.

"I had to ask Billy what he meant." I continued. "My other brothers heard and explained it to me in a…less than delicate way. They explained to me exactly why I was like the Spanish flu.

"I'm harmless in the beginning, but the longer I hang around the more people I infect and screw up." I said, finally looking up at Bucky, who looked like a child whose puppy was just called ugly, like he didn't know why anyone would say something like that.

"Why…What-Why would your own family say that?" he finally asked me. It was like he couldn't even imagine something like that. Which, I find a bit ironic; Bucky was in the Army, fought Nazis, was a POW in a Hydra camp, and seemed unable to imagine me having a less than happy childhood.

I shrugged. "I'm the little bastard child." I said cynically.

"Annie-"

"And-And I mean, he was kinda right, wasn't he?" I asked, getting up to pace around the area in front of my desk. "My momma died. My brother died. The brothers I have left hate me. I'm my father's biggest disappointment. Dr. Erskine—who, was more of a father than I've ever had—got shot. And you—Bucky, you were-." He stopped me before I could say 'in a damn prison for six months and being forced to build bombs!'

"Glow!" Bucky said sharply, grabbing my shoulders gently, and hunching down to look me in the eye. He looked like he was either about to cry or about to laugh; his dark eyebrows were pulled together and turned up in the middle, his cerulean blue eyes looked like they were swirling with emotion. Honestly, I didn't know if I was going to laugh or to cry. I looked up at him for a few moments, waiting for him to speak.

"Didn't they come up with a vaccine for the Spanish flu?" he asked oh-so-innocently. My head lolled down as I let out a small laugh and to hide the tears welling up in my eyes.

Bucky's hands left my shoulders and his arms wrapped around my back, pulling me towards him. I rested my forehead lightly on his chest and wrapped my fingers up in the rough material of his over shirt as a few tears slipped out. I idly wondered how he wore that over shirt, it didn't seem the slightest bit comfortable.

"You know, if that mention of a deadly illness was supposed to make me stop askin' you to dance or sayin' you have pretty eyes, it didn't work." Bucky said before his chin came to rest on the top of my head. "It won't work."

I sniffled once, just a sharp intake of air so I didn't sound nasal. "You've never told me I have pretty eyes." I told him, letting his shirt go and taking a step back so I could see him, or, trying to take a step back. Bucky still held me tightly.

"Really?" Bucky asked, his brows furrowing slightly. "Hm." He looked over my head in thought. "Guess I thought it so many times, I thought I said it."

The sweet little statement seemed to brush the unhappy topic of my family away. "Are you gonna say it?" I asked quietly.

Chuckling a little, Bucky leaned down so his nose was just about brushing mine. "You have pretty eyes, Annie." He said quietly. I looked down, feeling my cheeks flush.

Bucky just chuckled, making his chest vibrate. He pressed a kiss to my forehead before turning his cheek, letting it rest on the top of my head. When he did things like that, it made me feel so much shorter than I was. Five-foot four was not short. Then again, Bucky was almost six feet tall. It felt nice being hugged by the tall Bucky Barnes.

It felt safe.