Anna stumbled to the bathroom, the automatic lights flickering on were way too bright for this time in the morning. She tilted her head back and just took a second to wake up, to think and remind herself why money was worth getting out of bed over.

She brushed through her hair and looked in the mirror. The scars on her arms were darker in the light, stood out too vivid and reminded her of a past she'd rather forget. Her pale fingers traced the thick bump from chin to elbow. That one hurt the most, twinged when the weather changed and persuaded dreams to nightmares.

They hadn't been gentle sowing her up either, she was counting the Frankenstein stitches when a phone buzzed.

Selena:

Anna, where are you? Boss said you're covering Kelly today?

"Fuck." The brush fell out of her other hand.

She threw the shower on and began stripping. The cold air claimed her skin instantly but there was no time to wait for warm water so she resolved to be hypothermia bound.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

She spread her hand away from the water and typed back,

Anna:

"I completely slept in, I'll be there in a half hour!"

She chucked shampoo on her head and squirted toothpaste in her mouth, multitasking at its finest.

Selena:

Boss is here and he is PISSED, you better be here in ten!

Selena was the supervisor for all the girls in the club and it was her job to make sure everyone turned up on time and presentable. It was her that would get into shit for Anna being late.

Anna groaned and shut the water off. Just as she was about to step out, she slipped.

Anna couldn't stop her head from free-falling onto the cracked tiles. Something snapped and she let out a scream. Lying on the floor, she almost didn't want to look at her ankle but she sat up anyway, forcing away the tears in her eyes.

"Jesus Christ." Her entire ankle was already swollen, turning crimson and blue and fuck did it hurt. She prodded a finger at the bone and saw stars of pain. She pulled herself up on her good foot, foolishly trusting the already unsteady sink to hold all her weight. Ceramic gave way and she was again falling, her head slamming back.

She was knocked breathless for a moment before the migraine came full force. There were shards and dust everywhere, one piece already leaving a slice down her forearm.

Anna lay back for a second, trying to ignore every aching part of her but then the ringing of her phone knocked back painful reality.

Holding back a sob, Anna looked around for her phone. It buzzed again under a piece of the sink, the shards cut her fingers as she tried to swipe the green symbol. Her phone was fucked; she was fucked as she read the name.

"Hello?"

"Anna, you are now an hour late." The calm in Selena's voice was frightening.

Anna held back a shuddering cry as she put weight on her bad ankle and hopped into the bedroom.

"I know. I just- I fell and then-"

"I don't need excuses Anna, I need you here now. You have it too comfy in this job." Anna heard the bitterness in the woman's voice. Selena hated Anna, hated how she was better at selling her body than the rest of them.

"I can be there in ten minutes, I swear." Anna said, pulling out a red and black silicone suit that would hide the scratches.

Selena huffed. "If it was up to me your ass would be kicked out of this place but he's in a meeting right now so you have seconds- seconds, Anna." The connection cut and Anna threw her phone against the wall, watching as it smashed into a million pieces.

She ran her hand through her wet hair and breathed through the pain in her ankle. There was no way she could dance like this, which meant she was on scut. Selena would send her to do the hand jobs and tit fucks to the vile men at the back where there was no need to stand.

But for now, getting dressed was her best bet. In seconds Anna chucked on the outfit and shoved her blistered feet into the same heels as yesterday- or at least tried to. Her ankle, which was most definitely sprained, was so swollen that the straps wouldn't go around. She took in a sharp breath and resisted the urge to chuck that too against a wall. It seemed she'd be hopping barefooted out the flat.

Anna lived in the shittiest part of the city where a drug addict was always perched outside her building's door and took a swipe at her ass every time she walked by. It wasn't a good idea to walk around barefooted in this neighborhood, but Anna had no choice than to ignore the glass in her feet and hop to the rust bucket she called a car. Hopefully by the time she got to the club the swelling would go down.

It hurt to sit and drive and walk but Anna managed to make it to the back entrance of 'The Griffen'. The bouncer let her in with a look at her face and shook his head in warning as she pushed the door open. Heels in her hand and hair still a damp mess, Anna slithered to the back room.

Selena stood with her hands on her hips. "Where the fuck have you been?"

It wasn't sympathy but demand in her voice. Anna only bowed her head and walked past her to the row of mirrors and make-up. Biting her lip, she eased down on the chair and dumped her heels under the table piled with cosmetics.

"Oh you think you can ignore me now." Suddenly her hair was being yanked back and Anna yelped. Selena was there in her face, the blonde woman had quite the grip for how small she was.

"Don't you forget who picked you up off those streets. Madripoor is not a place where a young girl from Russia with no notion of how to speak English or read can survive."

She swallowed the words in her throat as Selena pulled harder. "You can fuck the boss and call him whatever you want, but you are still only a stripper. A whore good at nothing else but a good ride."

Though it was nothing she hadn't heard before, the words hurt more than they should. Still she kept silent.

"You're singing until seven and then you're down the back for scut. And believe me, you won't have a second to worm your way into his head and get out of it." Selena let go, slamming the door on her way out.

Anna went about putting on eye shadow and mascara without a single thought. Selena could break her balls however way she wanted, it was better than letting them all know who she really was.

The strap still didn't fit and the swelling only got worse but at least she could sit and sing. Jasmine, a girl who was too nice to be in a business like this, helped Anna stumble to the stage without a remark. She handed Anna the microphone and gave her a gentle smile before heading out to the throng of men gathered.

The Griffen was a renowned club. Lavish enough that some of the highest clientele came through. Dangerous men and women from all over the globe. Madripoor was made for criminals, a hiding ground or sanctuary for those whose past was better left unspoken. And for now, before the night pulled out a different kind of crowd, Anna was content.

Without the flashing lights, poles and naked bodies defecting the building, it was cozy. Booths housed couples eating dinner and the bar was home for the regulars who never left.

There were two sectors to Madripoor. High town and Low town, Anna survived in Low town but she thrived in high. The further down you went the louder, life became fast and the lining of your pockets weren't safe from your neighbor. She had gathered every penny she owned and took a train to High Town and never looked back.

Anna tapped the mic and slipped in an earpiece as the first song of the night began. It was an easy one, no crescendos and simple so her voice wouldn't get too worn out before tonight. Anna wasn't very good at many things. She couldn't read or write, didn't know how to cook a microwave meal and only knew the names of two continents in the world, but by god could she sing.

Singing had a way of pulling every ear to her. When she opened her mouth, people were always mesmerized, even when she was a child. Her mother used to drag her onto the filthy streets, hand her a hat and make her sing; it was their biggest income. When she was alone and the world abandoned her into the hands of cruel, cruel men, losing herself to a lullaby centered everything again. She didn't have to feel or think when the lyrics overcame. In singing she could find peace, a piece no one had been able to steal just yet.

So despite the morning she had, Anna closed her eyes and followed the lyrics to her heart.

...oOo...

An hour later and her throat was hoarse so she padded to the bar, one foot sliding across the shiny floor.

"That's quite the shiner."

James came walking towards her, a pile of paper bunched in one elbow. Anna downed a shot before lifting her leg onto the stool beside her.

"Had a rough morning."

He lifted a finger to Andy. "An hour late I hear." She nodded, looking away from his pointed glare.

"Comrade rang earlier, he'll be arriving with that collector and you know how much he likes to hear you sing." he said.

Anna resisted a smile, oh how pissed Selena is going to be. Andy set down two more glasses, both finely flourished with a bartender's love. James chucked the mint leaf and lime into her glass and downed the thing in one gulp.

"So I'm on stage till... "

"Your shift ends, so get up there now and put on a show." He winked at her and slapped her raised foot before walking away.

"Fucker." She gasped.

...oOo…

"Anna, pickup the pace." Selena shouted as she herded the nighter girls into the back to get ready.

Finishing the song, she pulled out her phone and began to scroll through her playlist and at the very bottom was a song she hadn't heard in ages. One that brought memories of scanning the crowd for him and, as he stood in a uniform that took him away from her, her heart had swelled. The way he used to look at her when she sang…

Those were the memories Anna tried to fall asleep with clutched in her hand. The ones she saved for that homesick feeling. Her finger tapped it and she closed her eyes as Lesley sang the intro and when it quieted she took over. The speakers picked up her voice and threw it across the room and people began to move.

She smiled and sung louder, her chest bellowed and sweat began running down her temple but who fucking cared. She was loud and it burned her ears but everyone was screaming too. And when the beat dropped she opened her eyes to see how the crowd would freeze at her breath and explode when she raised a hand.

But it was her that froze.

Her muscles went rigid as she watched him stalk in and she couldn't seem to breathe anymore.

It couldn't be…

She stumbled up and slowly walked behind the curtain and just stood for a moment.

"Impossible."

Someone had taken over the music, Avicii shouting over the speakers but Anna was still there. The moment replaying in her head. It had to be James, her boss, there was no other explanation. It must have just been the light or whatever way he walked because it was impossible.

Head throbbing and heart stone cold, she ambled her way down the stage and headed to where she'd seen him.

And through the gaps between the bouquet of people sticking to each other, she saw a face that shouldn't exist.

Too fast and too slow Anna made her way through the crowd, people parted for her, most of them knowing who she was.

And too soon she was inches too close. She was going out of her mind, there was no way he could be here. Did she take something earlier? Had someone spiked her drink?

But there he stood at the mahogany bar. His face only a few years older and yet those eyes a million times duller. He was as handsome as ever, her stomach already in knots as she stepped closer.

"What, you don't know how to dance, pretty boy?" The Smiling Tiger stood beside him, poking his arm and smiling. He shook his head but smirked back.

If she was paying attention she would be able to see how strange the Comrade looked. If she was paying attention she would have seen the other man beside him and recognized and connected the dots.

But she wasn't, wasn't thinking as her body lurched forward until she was standing beside him. And she watched in slow motion as her hands came up to his face.

Real.

He shied away from her, brows caved in confusion. And that was like a sucker punch to the gut.

He wouldn't recognize her, god Anna barely recognized herself in the mirror some days. Suddenly her clothes felt too tight, her make-up too heavy and scars too loud. Though she should have tucked tail and run, Anna couldn't help herself.

She put a hand on his arm and it was surprisingly cool.

"Ja-James?" Her voice was too shaky, too squeaky.

James looked at her then, right through her eyes and her knees almost gave out. The Comrade noticed her then and elbowed James.

"Bucky, who's this?" Though that wasn't right because the Tiger was often smiling under her, a regular customer in the club.

James shook his head slowly. He knew her, that was a spark in his eyes.

"Just a hooker."

And her lungs deflated. How very true he was.

James put a hand on the Comrade's shoulder and whispered in his ear. He nodded in understanding and James turned back to her.

She should have left, should have let go of his arm that she was gripping far too tight and pretended she thought he was someone else.

Though she was too frozen to stop him as he pulled her away. Her foot stumbled but he didn't stop until they were out and into the cold night.

And then she was being shoved against a brick wall.

"Who are you?" His lips were pursed as both hands had her propped up so hard she couldn't move if she tried.

She might have been crying because this was too real. What a cruel, cruel joke her mind played on her.

James gripped her wrist tighter but she could barely feel it. "Answer me."

Anna shrugged her shoulders. She was finally going mad. She'd sniffed too much and now her brain was fucked. She was probably in a mental institute somewhere drooling over her shirt.

He was getting impatient now, that familiar tense in his jaw working so he wouldn't snap.

Or perhaps this was hell. Maybe she never escaped and Hydra was still shoving needles in her brain and they'd pushed too far this time. When she didn't answer he let go of her.

"Ayo, is this some sort of trick?"

She shook her head.

"It's me, A-

"Annabelle?" He finished. An ugly sob came from the back of her throat. He looked at her all over then, as if he was just in as much disbelief. She would have laughed if her head wasn't spinning.

And then like falling ceramic his face cracked into one big smile. His arms were around her then and Anna couldn't feel her hands but she squeezed him back.

Definitely gonna have to do a part three for this because I have a few more ideas in mind.