Chapter Three
Secret Tunnel
The two day long trek through the secret tunnel, was starting to wear Anna down, and more then once she contemplated opening one of the vials, and using it. Part of her mind told her that, even contemplating it made her no better than Hydra, while the other side, the one that she had been hearing since she woke told her that it was a strategic move. She was simply using all the resources at her disposal, and that made her smart, she wasn't after power like Hydra, it was protection against anything that would come later. What was that saying again, speak softly, and carry a big stick. Anna laughed under her breath, listen to her, arguing against herself, maybe she was as crazy as James always used to say.
The hard stone of the ground Anna had been walking on, was finally giving way to a soft yet compacted wet sand, she was close, there was even a smell of seasalt in the air. After having walked for so long in the dark, finally seeing the sun again was part relief and part painful, making her squint and shield her eyes. The port city of Constanta Romania, was bustling with people, nobody paid any attention to a lone woman walking around. Though that could also be because she happened to clean herself with sea water, stolen clothing and pickpocketed some afternoon beach goers. After commandeering a small corner table outside of a cafe, Anna unfolded the map she had stolen from a street vendor's stand, and began to trace a route to Vienna. The quickest way would be to travel back the way she came, to Bucharest, but that was too risky, in the off chance that Hydra happened to track her. No, the best route would take her around Bucharest, she would have to travel to Bulgaria, and from there she would go through Serbia to Hungary, and then from Hungary to Vienna. In between she would be traveling through Sofia, Belgrade, and of course Budapest, in all it would only take about twenty-one hours as long as she could procure a car of course.
Anna was quite proud of herself, it only took her fifteen hours to get to Vienna instead of the predicted twenty-one. She hadn't lost her lead foot, if she thought about it, she could almost hear Steve as if it had been yesterday, "You know, you aren't supposed to see if you can go faster than the speed of light." Anna raising her eyebrow, "I was told it was imperative that you get these supplies as soon as yesterday." James grinning, "How many people did you run over this time?" Steve whipping around eyes wide in shock, her shrugging, "I lost count after the fifth Nazi." James' loud laugh ringing out, adoration shining in his eyes, Steve shaking his head. The grin she had been wearing slowly fell off her face, remembering the last words they had spoken to each, neither of them had exactly been friendly to each other, both grieving in their own ways. It's ok to be mad and blame Steve, he was a dick. He was grieving. Doesn't mean he wasn't still a dick. Anna shook her head, trying to get rid of the voices she kept hearing, she really was crazy.
Anna, wasting no time, snuck her way onto a plane heading for London, England, she stayed in London for a week, pickpocketing enough money for a night in a hotel, and a clean set of clothes. Once she was cleaned she had just enough left over for another plane ticket, this one to New York. As the plane rose into the air, Anna finally felt her body to relax enough to enjoy the thought of actually being free, and on her way home.
AN: I'm not thrilled with this chapter, but I really wanted to get it up, before I had to go back to work for the week, hopefully next ones a bit better, and maybe longer too. Within the next two or three chapters, more things will be explained about Anna and how everything works with her powers, talents, and her mind.