Hello everyone, for those that stick around to my indecisiveness thank you so much I appreciate you more than you know! I have completely reworked Count On Me because I didn't like the way it flowed and I didn't like how it was turning out. I know you all deserve better than what I was giving you, especially as a sequel to My Girl. These first few chapters start before the present day, please bare with me; I love you all so much, enjoy!

November 1992

Annie wiped her hands on the dishcloth over her shoulder, stealing a glance behind her at her husband sleeping on the couch through the doorway into the living room. The apartment was silent as she inched closer, her hand dipping into the pocket of her jeans and tugging the small pill free.

She had been doing this for years, but she still held her breath as she reached forward to place the small pill between his slightly parted lips. If she were a better person she might hate herself… biting her lip, she poked it into his mouth more and reeled her hand back as he jerked but took the drug into his mouth, his eyes peeling open in question as he swallowed and blinked at his wife.

"You were snoring again Haku," she smiled sweetly and knelt beside him, "you could have gone to bed without me."

"Nonsense," the word slurred in his tiredness, stretching as he stood, "I won't go to bed without my wife."

Annie's smile almost faltered, goodness how could such a man think so highly of her? The thought echoed around her head, not for the first time as she pulled the cloth from her shoulder, perking at the muffled beeping floated through the air. "Work?"

"Yeah," Haku grunted and scratched the back of his neck, as he stared down at the tiny beeping device pulled from his waistband, "I'll be back…" his face scrunched as he bent over and held his head, it was pounding and he'd much rather settle back into the couch and allow the headache to run its course.

"Maybe you should finally see a doctor?" she leaned over worriedly, her hand cupping his cheek as her eyes assessed him carefully, "you've been getting them so often it can't be good for you."

Haku shook his head and rocked to his feet, reaching for his coat draped over the back of the couch, "I'm fine… I've no time to think about that, not with another little one on the way."

Annie's smile widened as he caressed her stomach, she was only ten weeks pregnant and he was acting as if nine months had flown by, "we should tell Kagome in the morning."

"Absolutely!" he had doted on her eldest since she introduced them, having no issues taking her in as his own and showering the little girl with his love and attention. "She's going to make a phenomenal older sister."

"With how well you've stepped into the father role, I don't expect any less." Annie trailed after him to the door as he fumbled through their apartment, her brow quirking as he fell into the door, he had never had this type of reaction before, "don't go in Haku… you can barely walk."

"Just a bit of dizziness Anne, I'm okay to drive; I have to get to the station." Haku turned and placed a kiss to her forehead, caressing her cheek tenderly before slipping from the room.

Annie exhaled slowly, turning and making her way through the room to the small kitchen. She tossed the dishcloth to the table and pulled a chair out, eyes trained on the clock on the wall as the minutes ticked by; it was late into the morning when she finally stood at the knock on the door, blinking tears into her eyes at the two uniformed officers staring at her sympathetically.

She allowed the tears to fall freely as they told her of the accident, that her husband had crashed head-on into another vehicle and killed them both. "Thank you both so much for telling me… I can't—he's really… thank you…" she managed a watery smile as she walked them to the door, rolling her eyes at the closed barrier and drying her cheeks quickly.

'What a waste of a good man…' her eyes drifted downward, hand over her stomach at the thought, she supposed he didn't deserve that ending but goodness he was in the way of plans that had long been set in motion… her fingers tugged her wedding ring off and tossed it to the table by the door, finally making her way to her room to get some sleep before her daughter woke.

"So sorry for your loss."

Annie inclined her head at the words of condolence, glancing at her father-in-law out of the corner of her eyes as he spoke softly on the other side of the room. He had quickly offered for her and Kagome to move in, as she had suspected; he raised Haku right she thought quickly.

"Annie."

The woman sucked in her breath quickly at the voice she hadn't been expecting, head whipping around to stare at the man before being engulfed in his arms. "Tony… what're—I told you you didn't have to come."

"Just like I told you not to come to my parents'." Tony pulled back, his pink tinged eyes searching her face carefully, "I'm so sorry for your loss… you alright?"

"Yes," she smiled weakly, eyes glancing down shyly to avoid his gaze. The question he really wanted to ask hung between them as Annie drew a shaking breath to seemingly give herself courage before lifting her eyes and lowering her voice, "he had been on something for a while, the coroner's report said he was under the affects—I don't know how I couldn't have seen—"

"Hey, it's alright." Tony mumbled and gathered her in his arms once more, soothing circles rubbing along Annie's back, "Rhodey's here too, he's as worried about you as I am."

Annie blinked into his white shirt and furrowed her brow with a frown before pulling back, surprise taking over her face easily as she glanced around for the man in question. "You boys are so sweet to me; you always have been."

Tony grinned and joined her in glancing around, pointing between bodies as his grin split into a full smile and his eyes lit up, "when did Kagome get so big?"

"She's a handful," Annie leaned into his side slightly to watch her daughter playing with Rhodey as he attempted to keep her focus from the sadness that engulfed the area, keeping her innocent to the horrors of reality. The woman nestled into Tony's side inhaled sharply at the image, as perfect as it was, this wasn't forever… she was groomed for better than this, "James dotes on her almost as much as you."

"That little nugget keeps us both sane," Tony stated as he started forward and froze, turning as if asking permission before jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, "since dad's not around to argue anymore, maybe I could—"

"This isn't the time or place, Anthony."

"It's never the time or place with you, Annie."

Cerulean and hazel narrowed at each other as tension simmered between them, Tony scoffing and turning on his heel to soak up as much time as he could with the girl.

"My condolences on the loss of your husband Anina, it's truly a great tragedy."

Annie stole a glance at the man beside her, grabbing his sleeve and steering him through the house to the back door. It only made sense to hold her husband's celebration of life at the shrine where he grew up, more room than their little apartment provided for the amount of people that had come to pay their respects.

"How was your flight Alexander, easy I trust?"

"Landing was a little rough," Alexander Pierce crossed his arms when they stopped walking, turning to eye the people before his gaze fell on Kagome as she dragged Tony and Rhodey outside with her. "You're certain that everything we want is right there?"

"If you believe the stories, you'll have to wait until she's older to determine if I'm right in my assumptions on whom she is."

Alexander Pierce tilted his head to the side and straightened, "or alternatively we could deal with her now—"

"I said what I said," Annie snapped quickly, glaring coldly at the man beside her, "when she's older you may test the theories and no sooner."

"So protective, I'd say you were getting cold feet on the plan."

"Hardly."

Pierce stared down his nose at the woman beside him, a sneer twisting his lips at her scoff, "very well, but to make sure the job gets done the right way Winter will take her out."

Annie swallowed hard and tilted her head back, sniffing delicately at his declaration. 'Winter… a bit excessive for that…' her brow arched as she watched Kagome, a well-timed bullet through the head was more than enough, was the Soldier really necessary for the girl?