The meeting doesn't go on for too long, and Ana is grateful for that. Mainly because Bucky was also a part of it, and he had sat across from her as to not raise any suspicion. It didn't stop him from reaching his foot out and slowly dragging it up and down Ana's bare calf under her pants. She hid her smile the best she could, biting her lip and rubbing her bottom one with her fingers.
Ana had caught Natasha's eyes when she walked into the briefing room. The elite spy just quirked her eyebrows knowingly, the smallest smirk pulling up the left corner of her mouth. Clint was sitting right next to her. When Ana's eyes shifted over to him, he winked quickly and nodded once. Ana shot them both of look of silence and took her seat.
Apparently, Nat had covered for her, saying Ana decided to stay up with her in her room and watch movies all night. Ana was grateful for it, and grateful that no one else has seemed to catch on yet. However, both Black Widow and Hawkeye gave the same reaction to Bucky when he walked in. He nearly tripped over his own feet and Ana had to stifle a laugh.
The meeting ended with Ana feeling just a little frustrated. She doesn't know why or how her abilities are becoming stronger. Tony theorized it to be emotional, but in a way where Ana seems to have more of a drive to protect something, or rather, someone. She didn't miss the pointed look he gave her, then shifted his gaze over to Bucky.
Steve thinks it could just be Ana allowing herself to use her ability more, as she doesn't usually do field work. Therefore, her opportunity came when she had to focus more of her energy into taking down the villain. Her power lying dormant for years before then.
Sharon Carter tends to agree, though she adds the fact that Ana has been growing stronger throughout the year. Sam seconds that, also noting that Ana was able to channel the kinetic energy she gathered into Tony's suit and Bucky's arm. Clint ends up voicing aloud if she can charge his electronic arrows, that way he can hack into Netflix to control the movies released there and watch whatever he damn pleases.
Ana says yes to that one, and they are both given looks of disapproval from Steve. Tony just looks exasperated with both of them, like they are children he's not paid to babysit. As Ana is signing to Clint is ASL about their plan, Bucky speaks up. He agrees with everyone, about her energy being tied to her emotions, and possibly she just hasn't used it to her full extent, but he says something else.
"Maybe, you are much stronger than you think you are. You not only pulled the energy straight from the air but the ground too, and drained him of his own. Maybe," Bucky looks at her, as if he's asking her not to be angry. "You do know the extent of it, that you can drain the life force out of people, and because you know that, you don't ever dabble in it. You keep it locked away, pressed down. Hidden, because you would never do that to anyone."
Ana feels the sudden change of emotions in the air, and she grips the arms of the chair. It's a possibility. Tony broke the long silence that fell over the room after Bucky's theory. He then said it's something to look into, and that any mission in the near future, Ana will not be asked to help again, unless absolutely needed.
She grateful for that too.
"That was interesting. How long have you been sitting on that?" Ana questions Bucky during a late lunch once she finds him sitting out on the patio.
Bucky smiles at her, pushing his plate over as Ana gives him half her veggie chips. She likes them, just not the dark green ones.
"Not long." He answers, crunching into a chip. "You forget that I'm perceptive, darling. I was there that night remember? The thought just came to me the other night."
Ana hooks their ankles together under the table. She pushes her chips around her plate. "So, you think it's true then?"
He shrugs, reaching over to lace their fingers together. "I'm not sure. Energy is life and life is energy right? People have life and energy, if that is in fact, the same thing, then yes. Maybe."
Bucky squeezes her hand. "If it is true, that doesn't change how I feel about you, Ana. It just means no one should piss you off anymore."
A startled laugh emits from her. She was not expecting that. She ends up rolling her eyes at him as Bucky lifts her hand to his mouth. He kisses each knuckle, then pulls Ana forward to peck her lips, and that's precisely when Steve walks onto the patio, Ezra following closely behind. Steve's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Ezra, the traitor, just jumps unto Bucky's lap and curls up to nap. Ana glares at her once furry cuddle buddy and ignores Steve's look of shock.
"Um." Steve awkwardly speaks up. "Did I miss something?"
"I guess now is a good time to tell him." Bucky states, a hint of a laugh in his voice.
"Yeah," Ana says, shaking her head and smiling. She gets up and grabs her plate. "I'll let you senior citizens talk about it."
"You realize-"
"Yes, babe, don't make it weird. Pep says my age range should be no more than ten years...whoops."
Ana waves her goodbye as she quickly leaves the patio, Bucky grumbling after her.
Two nights pass and Ana doesn't think she and Bucky will ever sleep in separate beds again.
"So," Ana begins, taking a cautious sip of her coffee.
Bucky hums his response as he drinks from his own mug.
"Stage Six." She continues, as Agent Erik Woods walks by and hands her a file. "Hang on," She tells Bucky.
She opens the file to reveal a slight medical breakthrough from the Medical Ward. Ana already knows this to be true, since her friend Telly was the first one to inform her about it. Attached is their emails on the subject, Telly's part highlighted in yellow from Ana's own markings. She credits Telly one-hundred percent and ask if she could rely the information to her team. She agreed.
The information contains research on using advance technical medical devices to be able to scan the brain and pull memories from people suffering from Alzheimer's and Dementia. It's still in the very early stages, but Telly thinks it is possible and has asked Ana to co-join in helping her research more.
She thanks Agent Woods and he leaves, barely saying a word to either of them. It's been a quiet morning anyway. Ana keeps the file and puts it in her desk drawer for now, locking it away. She explains it to Bucky, who perks up at the mention of it.
"Does that mean...?" Bucky fades off, almost too nervous to even think about it.
"That if it proves to be correct, we can use that device and help you with your memories as well? Yes." Ana beams at him.
He looks hopeful, happy, and it shines bright blue. The little crinkles are at the corner of his eyes as he smiles back at her. "So. Stage Six then?"
"If you're up for it."
He nods. "I really am."
"Today? Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow." Bucky hops off the desk, and lean over, his lips brushing her ear. "I think I just want to kiss you breathless today."
Ana shivers and nods. Tomorrow it is then.
There's all kinds of energy sizzling in the air, and Ana cannot decipher it. She can't tell if it's nervousness from Bucky, or something else. Something she can't place her finger on. When she tries, it's gone and all that's left is anxiety. Bucky requests the metal bonds again, and despite the heaviness in the air that burns at Ana's lungs, he seems calm.
Ana allows her fingers to linger over his skin, allows herself to tuck his hair back behind his ear. It earns her a soft smile from Bucky and he pursues his lips as if he's giving her an air kiss. It's cute, it makes her heart flutter. She wishes she could perform every Session on the roof instead, away from wary eyes, and guards that still don't like him. Max is the only one who does like Bucky, and he isn't even in the room yet.
It's strange, and when Ana had text him of his whereabouts, his response was late. He had been called into a meeting with some of the guards. Apparently, they had to go over what happens if there's a breech on the far east side of the building. He promised he'd be there soon though.
"Ready?" Ana asks Bucky as she puts on her bracelet and activates it.
"As I'll ever be." He responds determined, giving her a nod.
The urge to kiss his anxiousness away is strong. Instead, she walks towards the table, not bothering with the damned red book anymore. She had memorized the words, anyway. She doesn't need someone else getting their hands on it. They get through the first three Trigger Words with little issue, and she presses forward on Bucky's approval.
Ana pauses at Rassvet. It's this word, Daybreak, that usually causes difficulty for Bucky, but he seems to be doing alright for the moment. Only a little bit of discomfort, of struggle and he only twitches twice against the restraints. Ana smiles encouragingly at him, and he smiles back, breathing deeply. Taking it slow, means slowing down the triggering process. Gives him time to work through it. Gives Ana time to help him if he needs it. Bucky is doing good.
Ana is about to move one to the next two words, when the energy she felt beforehand hits her like an anvil to the chest. It makes her gasp, clutching at her chest briefly. She knew it. It wasn't just Bucky's nervous energy, but something else entirely. She's felt it for days. She feels it now, like whoever is doing this knew exactly how to immobilize her. It's intentional.
"Ana!? What's wrong?" Buck asks frantically, concerned.
There's a sound as if he tries to reach out for her but can't. She's about to wave her hand to tell him that she's fine and whatever it was is going away.
That is, until the Triggers start over. A strange voice is coming through the speaker from the upper room, firing off with rapid words. Ana nearly snaps her neck turning around too fast to look at the room, utterly bewildered. The movement makes her head spin a little, but she sees only one guard and spots a little red symbol on his hand. It happens so fast that Ana, in her sudden hazy mind, finally catches on. He's on the third word when Bucky reacts.
"No." He whispers horrified from behind her.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" Ana shouts, looking back at Bucky for a moment. She can't breathe properly, sweat prickling at her neck.
"Rassvet!
"Stop it!" Bucky yells, jerking against his seat and gritting his teeth.
Ana fights through her weakness and launches into action. She grabs the gun hidden under the table, ripping it from the tape and pointing at the window, flicking off the safety. She fires two shots, cracking the glass but not breaking it. The intruder continues.
"Pech'! Devyat'!"
Ana fires again, landing three more bullets in the same spot. Bucky's bloodcurdling screams ripping from his throat behind her makes her turn back around. His head is thrown back and his expression contorts in pain. She is about to reach out for him, to change his own energy, but there isn't time. She has to stop the guard.
"Dobroserdechnyy!"
Bucky pulls against the bonds, jerking in the chair.
Ana presses a button on her bracelet. "FRIDAY, I need backup, the guard team has been compromised!" She releases the button. "Bucky, you can fight this! Remember what is real!"
She pockets the gun in her belt and slams her fit down on the table. It opens to reveal several weapons of choice, including a thick steel bo staff, enchanted with electrical current. She keeps that in mind. She grabs another gun, firing quickly. Only one bullet breaks through the glass but it isn't enough.
"Vozvrashcheniye na rodinu!"
Ana hears the restraints break, the crunching of metal in metal. There's a shocking system embedded throughout the chair and she can activate it with her bracelet. She doesn't, not yet. There's loud bangs and rattling coming from the main door and for some reason, Max can't get inside. The infiltrator must have locked it behind her.
Bucky rips off the first restraint off his right wrist.
"Odin!
The second restraint is torn off. Ana grabs the shotgun, cocks it and aims at the glass. She fires just as the last word is shouted.
"Gruzovoy vagon!"
The glass finally shatters, the noise deafening as it explodes, raining down on the levels. The sound of the last bond is lost with the tinkering glass. Ana can't tell if she killed him or not, and at the moment it's not important. She slowly turns around, lowering her gun.
For the first time, The Winter Solider is standing in front of her. His chest is expanding with deep breathes. His face is expressionless, emotionless, his blue eyes vacant as he stares straight at her; cold and dark. Bucky has to be fighting against it. She has to believe that. Has to believe and trust that all the progress he's made so far will break him out of this. Then comes the same voice that triggered this.
"Soldat?"
She missed. He must have ducked out of the way just in time, and she fucking missed. She is an excellent shot and marksman, and she fucking missed.
"Bucky." Ana says softly, reaching out her hand. The energy that nearly crippled her is gone.
"Gotovy soblyudat." Bucky responds. Voice cold, rough and mechanical.
Ana's heart drops to her feet.
"Ubey yeye. Kill her."
Three things happened simultaneously. Ana drops the shotgun, pulls the hand gun from her belt and aims at the man in the room; he falls with a loud thud. The lock on main door finally breaks. Bucky kicks the chair so hard, it flies to the door to barricade them in. Then he advances on her, slowly, calculating, and it's terrifying.
When he's close enough he halts, looking down at her. Ana places her right palm over his heart. Bucky brings his metal, robotic hand up, fingers closing around her wrist. Slowly, she tries reading his energy, sizzling dark and chaotic around him. She attempts to transmute her own onto him.
"Feel what is inside your heart, Bucky." She reminds him quietly, pleading with her eyes. There has to be a reason why he's hesitating.
A second later, his eyes narrow and he squeezes her wrist, around the bracelet. It activates an electrical current, that shoots up his arm and essentially shocks the rest of his body. It's just the right element of surprise from him to let go and stumble back. Ana takes her chance.
She pulls the steel bo staff from the table and swings it around blocking Bucky's punch just in time. He comes at her with an upper kick from his right and she dodges it. She twists the weapon, slamming her elbow against his chin, knocking his head up. Ana hooks her boot behind his knee, pushing him off balance, except Bucky grabs her arm and she goes tumbling down with him. He flips her over, landing on her back, the wind knocked out of her.
Bucky rolls over, hand reaching out for her neck, but Ana smashes the bo into his chest. It knocks him off course again as she scrambles to get up. Something seems off about it his fighting. She quickly recalls the footage she's seen of him. A ruthless, cold blooded assassin, not holding back until he completes his mission, and right now that mission is to kill her. However, it's almost seems like he's holding back, pulling his punches and kicks. Like he was doing during their sparing match.
"Bucky, I know you're fighting it!" Ana calls, ducking as he takes another swing at her.
She jabs a punch to his rib cage, but he's able to get a good grip on her arm again and he twists it behind her back. His other arm coming across her chest, hand around her neck. She grits her teeth in pain, then uses it against him. She clenches her core and lifts her legs into the air, quickly kicks them down and bends, bringing her upper body forward, flipping him.
Bucky lands in a crouch, and the gun she usually has hidden, strapped to her chest clutters to the floor. Right next to his foot. He picks it up, straightening up slowly. He holds it level, aiming directly at Ana's chest. There's a split second where he hesitates, then fires.
There's a scream of pain. Ana turns her head to the second level, seeing where Bucky aimed at. He didn't shoot her. She's standing five feet from him, gun in hand, and he didn't shoot her.
Instead, he shot one of the guards finally coming through the second door. The bullet only hit his biceps and a surge of hope surges up Ana's spine. Then Bucky literally throws the gun at her. She moves out of the way, and it proves to be a good distraction because he advances on her again. He knocks the bo from her grasp, catching her fists in his left hand. Ana locks her stance down, causing a good resistance as Bucky tries to push her backwards. There's gunfire to their left, and Bucky ducks, the bullet missing by a few inches.
"Stop!" Ana screams. "I've got this! Hold your fire!"
Bucky picks up the bo and flings into the room. It hits the guard thus the head, falling to the ground with a thud. Ana throws all caution to the wind, and grabs Bucky's face between her hand as he corners her against the wall. There's a slight break to his cold glare.
"This is not you, Bucky. You know who you are. Come back to me."
Bucky grits his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. God, he's in there and fighting it. It must be the hardest struggling, and it doesn't win this time. His hands grab her hips, metal fingers digging into her skin, he pulls her close to his body, lifts and flips her over his head. Ana had grabbed onto his wrist while in the air and they both go down hard.
Ana gasps, because that fucking hurt and she lost all the air in her lungs. White spots are popping in her vision, and she's not sure, but she might just gotten whiplash. She's too slow to get up, and Bucky is suddenly crouching over her, right hand around her throat. His raises his left arm high, bringing it down. Ana closes her eyes, flinching in anticipation. There's a loud crack right next to her ear and she feels her head drop a few inches.
When she opens her eyes, she's staring up at the ceiling. She turns her head slightly, and Bucky's hair is covering his face, right next to hers. His hand is relaxed against her neck, posing no threat, his thumb gently stroking her pulse point. His lifts his head, and she can see his fist has literally punched a hole in the floor.
His face hovers over hers, just barely grazing their noses together. His hair falls over his cheeks, nearly blocking them from view. Bucky is staring into her eyes, his own shinning with confliction. He moves his hand up her neck, his fingertips brushing over her bottom lip.
"One." Bucky murmurs. "Two. Three. Four."
Ana frowns confusingly at him, but she doesn't say anything.
"Five, six," He breathes, eyes shifting back and forth. It dawns on her; he is counting the dots in her eyes. "Seven, eight, nine."
Bucky exhales. "Real?" He murmurs.
Ana nods slightly, lips burning under his touch. She parts her mouth on an intake of air, Bucky's fingers slowly trailing down her chin. Brings his touch over her neck again, delicate and careful, coming to rest over her heart. He releases a shuddering breath, then rests his forehead against her cheek. She brings her hand up to the back of his head, hair falling between her fingers.
"You're the realest thing in my life."
Ana's breath hitches. The moment is broken though, when she sees Max standing over them, gun in hand. She holds up the all good signal, and he motions to someone she can't see. Ana scrunches her fingers against Bucky's scalp and calms him. She wraps her free arm around his back, closing her eyes and feeling the energy. The darkness is gone, so she transmutes what she can. It's difficult, she can barely find anything that's positive around them at the moment. Instead, she focuses on feeling proud of him. That Bucky actually broke through the trigger, broke free from his Winter Solider and despite his seemingly one tracked brainwashed mind, still protected Ana.
She conveys all of her own feelings of hope, of pride, and at the same time, pulls every ounce of negative energy from Bucky as she can. She can feel her own begin to drain, can feel it leave her body, but that isn't important. She doesn't care what happens to her now, all she needs to do is help the man trembling in her arms.
It takes a while to hear, but Bucky is whispering his apologizes over and over again. His breath is hitting her face, and something wet lands on her lips. She absentmindedly licks it away, tasting of salt. He can't be crying, because Ana is transferring all of her own happiness to him.
If Bucky thinks she can literally drain the life force out of someone, why not herself? Why not try and give everything she has to him, to clear his mind. To calm his heart, to stop the trembling against her skin and the tears she licks away from her lips. Ana can feel her grip loosening; she isn't willingly doing it. Bucky must notice.
"Don't. Annie, stop it." He begs her softly, his voice normal but thick. "Not for me."
"Always." Ana pants, her eyes fluttering. "For you."
"Annie..." Bucky pleads, his voice cracking. "Please stop."
Ana closes her eyes as she feels Bucky graze his lips over hers. His fingers press against her skin.
"S-Steve, stop her."
There's a firm hand on the top of her head and her concentration nearly breaks as she feels a new energy interfere. New emotions she can feel are seeping into her skin and Ana inhales sharply, finally ceasing what she is doing. She hears words being spoken frantically. She feels gentle fingertips over the side of her neck.
Ana fights to keeps her eyes open, blinking them quickly to clear the fuzziness away. She can't pass out now, she has Bucky to focus on. Bucky to take care of. Bucky to make sure he didn't injure himself. Bucky who probably feels guilty. Bucky who's is currently helping her sit up. Slow and steady.
It's Bucky's face Ana is holding between her hands. "Okay?"
He presses his forehead against hers, his skin clammy against her own. "Yes, love. Max is going to take care of you now."
She can't be sure if she shakes her head or even responds. Either way, Bucky continues to speak as Ana is shifted around. She can't see around her, as she only has eyes for Bucky at the moment.
"I have to go. He'll take care of you." He tells her. Ana feels warm lips on her skin. "I'll be back."
Then all contact between her and Bucky is broken. Ana has no idea where he is, or who took him or what is going to happen. She doesn't get to drive herself insane with questions, for she blacks out the moment Bucky's fingers leave her skin.