Hi there! I just want to say I'm sorry uploading this chapter took so long. I hope you enjoy it. This one starts to reveal some more about Ana's past. Also, Thor is in this one!

Chapter 7

Bucky's POV

As I emerged from the bunker with Ana in my arms, I rushed on board the quinjet Natasha had landed in the clearing. I noticed she'd called in another SHIELD team to help with the cleanup of Anderson's minions.

"What happened?! Why didn't you tell me she was injured?" Natasha demanded as I put Ana down on a bench, "I could have had a medical team here already."

"It's probably a concussion. The comms didn't have good signal underground. But that doesn't matter; we need to get her medical attention as soon as possible." I said, probably a little more coldly than I intended. The jet shifted as we took off. It was just then I noticed Steve had boarded when he appeared next to us with an ice pack. Ana gratefully accepted it, holding it to the side of her head. She was pretty out of it, starting to doze off. I quickly snapped my fingers in front of her face, causing her to jolt awake and glare at me. "You have to stay awake, Ana."

Steve and I both tried to keep Ana awake by talking to her. "Were you hurt anywhere else?" Steve asked. She told us her ribs hurt from being kicked. I noticed her knuckles were also bruised and bloody. I wrapped them with a bandage as gently as I could. Most of the rest of the flight we were able to keep her awake, but soon with the pain in her head, accompanied with the energy drain from the mission, she was exhausted. I turned away for a few seconds and she had slumped over with her eyes closed. I gently shook her awake, as I knew her head was hurting. I felt bad, but I couldn't let her fall asleep just yet. "Stop it, Bucky." she snapped at me. "I'm sorry, doll, but you can't fall asleep." I told her. Natasha overheard us, and tried to reassure Ana. "Just a little longer, we're almost to the base." she said.

"Why can't we just go to the tower?" she whined.

"Because you've had head trauma and you need to get a concussion test, and possibly a CT scan." Natasha explained. I knew what all of that meant, unfortunately. Between Steve before the war and Steve after SHIELD, I've spent a lot more time in a hospital waiting room than I care to.

"I know it's a concussion," Ana said. "Trust me, I've had worse."

I didn't get the chance to respond before the jet landed. I picked Ana up, much to her dismay; because she she doesn't need a pouty-faced, puppy-eyed super soldier to carry her around-at least that's what she told me. I carried her straight to the medical wing where we sat down in some awful plastic chairs and waited forever because not even SHIELD can make emergency room visits short and convenient. Ana spent most of the wait with her face buried in my shoulder, complaining about the lights making her pain worse, and how she hated hospitals and we could have avoided all this by going straight home.

"And you know what elssse?" She said. Her words were still slurred, and her movements were still slow; she probably didn't realize it, though.

"What, doll?"

"I lost a perfectly good gun on that mission!"

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at that, "Well, I'm sure you can get another one." I consoled.

"You don't understand, Bucky. That was one of my favorite pistols!"

After a while, Ana was taken away, and Steve, Natasha, and I were left in the plastic stools of death to wait for a verdict on Ana's condition. Natasha called someone back at the tower to inform them where we were and why we were here. I was focusing intently on my shoes and the floor and trying not to worry about Ana. Steve patted my shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Bucky, Ana's tough. She's recovered from plenty of missions in the past."

"I know, but I can't help but feel like this was my fault. We were supposed to carry this mission, and Ana got hurt."

"Don't beat yourself up. This has happened to all of us at least once, so don't worry."

I nodded, knowing Steve was right. I was focusing on not worrying when I heard my name. I snapped my head up to see it was one of the doctors.

"Yes?" I said, standing up with shaky hands, fearing some terrible news.

"Agent Barnes, would you accompany me to the exam room?" she requested. I nodded and followed, to nervous to ask any questions.

…

Ana's POV

I sat on the exam table, swinging my legs nervously, waiting for the doctor to come back. I hate hospitals, and doctors; it's just another place where you have to be really careful to hide scars. One wrong move and you wind up in the psych ward. I jumped when the door opened, revealing the doctor and Bucky. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding when I saw him. He must have noticed I was on edge because he came and stood next to me.

"So, Agent Barnes, " the doctor started, "The CT scans showed no sign of bleeding or bruising, however, she does have a moderate concussion." Bucky nodded silently.

"I would rather Anastasia stay overnight for observation, but I can release her into your custody under the condition she will be closely monitored for the next few days."

"Why my custody?"

"She needs someone to watch her until she can be cleared for active field duty again, and you are listed as her emergency contact."

"I am?" Bucky looked a little confused, but also kind of happy. Of course he was my emergency contact, my parents haven't really been a part of my life for awhile. Bucky is my best friend, so it made sense to make him the one to call. However, I didn't think the responsibility would inhibit his ability to speak. I tried to move the conversation on, while Bucky stood there, still a little shocked.

"So… When can I get cleared?"

"In a week." the doctor answered, "If you're not completely recovered by then, we'll wait another week."

"A week?!" I shouted. My head was throbbing furiously but I didn't care. Bucky cut in, now taking his role as emergency contact very seriously. "It's standard procedure, doll. You need enough time to rest and heal before you go out in the field again."

The doctor nodded, "I'm not giving you a prescription as your condition isn't too severe. Over the counter painkillers should work just fine." SHe turned to Bucky, " And I'm assuming you know the proper protocol for concussion patients?"

Bucky nodded.

"I see you'll be in good hands." the doctor said with a smile, "If your symptoms worsen please come back immediately." She instructed, finally leaving to get paperwork and such so I could finally go home. Two seconds after she left, Bucky spit out the question he'd been holding in the whole time the doctor had been talking.

"I'm your emergency contact?"

It hurt to laugh, but I giggled nonetheless at his expression. "Yeah, after you it's Steve, then Nat."

"Oh," Bucky said, "Well, why not your parents?" I shrugged, "They live kinda far away" I said, hoping he would drop it. Mostly because it wasn't entirely true. My parents lived upstate, but there were other reasons for not adding them to my emergency contact list. Bucky got the hint, and didn't pry any further, but I saw the question still on his expression.

…

After we got the paperwork, and Bucky received strict instructions not to leave me alone, we were finally headed back to the tower. It was just barely dawn when we arrived, and the sun was only giving the faintest light from behind the skyline. I trudged to my room, falling onto my pillow and instantly fell asleep, with most of my gear on. In a weird hazy state between awake and asleep, I felt someone pull my boots off and cover me with a blanket.

An hour later, I was being shaken awake by Bucky who'd come to check on me. He did what the doctor told him and asked the stupid questions like 'where are you?', 'who are you?', and 'who am I?'. After doing this twice more, I was getting really annoyed at not being able to sleep. The next time he woke me up I snapped at him.

"I'm Anastasia Marie Grace Colette. You are James Buchanan Barnes. We are both currently in Stark Tower, now will you please leave me alone!"

"Calm down, doll, I just wanted to know if you wanted some breakfast?"

I hadn't meant to snap but I was still so tired. I nodded, "Sorry." I mumbled. "It's alright." Bucky said, "I know you didn't mean it. I'll be downstairs."

I rubbed my eyes, feeling the throbbing pain still in my lip and above my left eyebrow. I stumbled to my bathroom, where I showered and changed into some more comfortable clothes. Then I went down to the main floor, which gave off a heavenly aroma of bacon and pancakes. Unfortunately, my headache didn't think the smells were too great. The lights in the kitchen didn't help either. I trudged to the medicine cabinet, where we normally keep at least one of every kind of drug, hoping to find some pain killers. I found allergy medicine, cold and flu, a very colorful and diverse collection of band-aids (Tony's doing, probably), then noticed the Tylenol was on the top shelf. I grumbled under my breath to myself.

"Need some help?" Steve asked with a smirk, easily grabbing the bottle for me. I took off the cap and popped two pills into my mouth.

"Thanks." I said, my head hurting too much to care about Steve finding my height-or more appropriately, lack thereof-amusing.

"No problem. So, apparently that briefcase you saved had a piece of some old Asgardian weapon in it. SHIELD says it's exhibiting properties that seem… magical, to say the least, and the bunker was full of even more artifacts." he said, flipping a pancake.

"Did they ever find out if the guy was Hydra?"

"We think he may be connected in some way. We're trying to do background checks on all the guys we found in the bunker."

"When will Thor get here?" I asked.

"Soon, we hope." Bucky, who had been at the counter reading the reports on the mission, told me.

At that moment, Clint and Natasha entered the kitchen. Natasha was still in her gear from the night before, while Clint was in a pair of flannel pajamas.

"Wow, you look terrible." Clint blurted out.

"Thanks." I replied dryly, grabbing a plate for my pancakes.

I ate in silence, while the others discussed the mission. Tony and Bruce joined eventually, but both were too busy going over the analysis of the artifact to contribute to any conversation. I sat quietly, thinking about the mission. I had got the briefcase, but I had been so easily knocked down. I felt stupid for it, and started to blame myself. I caused so much trouble for the team. I was poking at my breakfast with my fork, telling myself how useless and awful I was, when I heard a clap of thunder.

I jumped from my seat. Not because the thunder had scared me, but because I knew exactly what it meant.

"Thor's here!" I exclaimed. I was proven correct when the thunder instantly stopped, and the god himself stepped out of the elevator.

"Greetings my friends." he said.

"Hey, big guy," Tony said, putting hand on Thor's massive shoulder, "I didn't think you'd be coming here yourself to sort this out.

"Thor!" I beamed. "Anastasia!" He grinned back and squeezed me into a hug, which actually hurt quite a lot, with my ribs being bruised and all, but I endured it because I missed him so much. He released me, observing my injuries, "I see you've been on a mission recently. You appear as though you've tangled with a bilgesnipe."

"Thanks." I blushed, knowing it was actually a compliment.

"Thor," Steve said cordially, "Always a pleasure. I hope this visit doesn't bring bad news."

"Not to worry, Steve. Things on Asgard are very well, too well, almost. I feel as though I have no purpose there right now. When I heard their was a battle here I decided to come and assist on earth."

After Thor was done greeting the others, he was discussing what he knew about the piece with Tony and Bruce. He confirmed it was indeed magical, although with just a fragment, he could not tell what it was. Only that it appeared to be a weapon of some kind. Finally Natasha announced she was going to SHIELD headquarters to interrogate Anderson.

"I would be interested in accompanying you." Thor said.

"I want to go too." I said.

Everyone's eyes landed on me. "Are you sure?" Steve was asking.

"Why shouldn't I?"I asked, crossing my arms.

"Well, for one, "Bucky said, "You've got a concussion and shouldn't be working, and two, this guy knocked you out. Why would you ever want to see his face again?"

"This is a mission I was a part of, and I intend to see it through."

"Anastasia is brave, she won't let a few cuts and bruises stop her." Thor said on my behalf.

"Ana, are you sure you can handle this?"

"Of course I can, Bucky. I'm fine."

…

Bucky's POV

We were watching Nat interrogate Anderson through the one-way glass dividing the interrogation room and the observation room. She was just as fierce in an interrogation as on the field. Cunning, quick, and agile; she knows exactly where to put her words and how to say them to draw out an answer. This situation was no different. She'd started by asking basic questions he couldn't lie about. His name, birthday, eye color, etc. Establishing a baseline so she could recognize when he is telling the truth versus lying. Then she went into confrontation. Telling him the facts we knew, trying to get him to confess.

"Dr. Anderson, we have evidence you have kept illegal artifacts hidden in your private bunker for recreational use. We also have evidence linking you to the terrorist group Hydra." She said casually. Knowing the confrontation itself wouldn't be enough to make him crack.

"The only way you know this is from trespassing!" Anderson growled in a light german accent. He looked terrible, with a black eye and a twisted knee. He deserved it though, for attacking Ana.

"You had no right to be on my property." He snarled.

"My people have a right to investigate suspicious activity." Natasha said calmly, "However, assault and battery are illegal regardless, and have numerous possible penalties." Now she was using the scare tactic. Make the interviewee think they are already facing charges so they cooperate to get out of them.

Anderson gave a smirk. His dark eyes went cold, "Are you referring to the girl who tried to take on my men by herself? She's much more of a criminal than I am. And so are you." he spat.

I saw Ana look down at the floor, I couldn't see her face very well, but I knew she was upset.

I almost noticed a hint of anger on Natasha's face as well, but she moved on without missing a beat. This was her job after all.

"Why don't you tell me what makes you say that?" She asked, sitting down in the chair across from him. She was bringing herself to his level, and asking for his side of the story. It was her way of making him feel control. If he felt as though he controlled the conversation, the answers would come soon enough.

"I know who you are, Black Widow." Anderson glared, "And I remember the other girl from Hydra… " he said.

I stole another glance at Ana. Her face was ghost white, and her hands were balled into fists. She must have recognized him too.

"What was it they called her? I can't remember. All I know is she left before her mission was complete. Our leader was not happy about that." He chuckled.

Ana was shaking now. I took her hand, squeezing it to bring her back to reality. "Do you want to go?" She shook her head.

"However, " Anderson continued, "WIth what we have now Hydra will no longer need soldiers and spies."

"You make it sound as though you possess magic?" Natasha said.

"Magic is not the correct word. I think power is right." Anderson face changed. It almost resembled a kid on Christmas morning. Thor and Steve were listening intently to my right. While to my left, Ana was still trying to calm herself.

"How would you obtain such power?"

"It is not mine… " Anderson said bitterly. Natasha smirked. That meant she'd found a weakness. From what Anderson said, it sounded as though he was only holding the piece for someone else. Someone he envied.

"Well, surely a man as wealthy and successful as you should know how to obtain the power of other worlds."

"I do, I am the only one familiar with the true potential of Valkyrie swords."

They had two missing pieces of the puzzle now. What the artifact was and that Anderson was Hydra. All they needed to know now was who the sword was really to be wielded by.

"Who could put such great power to a proper purpose?" Natasha asked.

"Certainly not SHIELD. Which is why I wish to have my briefcase back and to be sent back home!"

"Well, Dr. Anderson, I'm afraid we still have more to discuss." Natasha replied, "Like, who is it exactly, you are working for?" She stood up and placed her palms on the table. A power stance. She was getting serious now.

"Why don't you ask the girl who tried to rob me!"

"Who is your leader?" Natasha inquired again, this time in a much lower tone.

Anderson narrowed his eyes, which translated to 'I'm not talking'.

"Then I suggest you get comfortable. You could be here a while."

"Hydra will not let you bully me! They will find me and destroy you all! If you don't release me, they'll take hostages and harm civilians!" Anderson shouted, going red in the face.

"I think you'll actually find that Hydra has no concern for associates who can't keep their mouths shut." Natasha said cooly.

I saw Ana was again going pale, and now she was crying. I decided enough was enough. I took her hand and led her out of the room. When we were finally in the hallway, she broke down. "Bucky we have to stop them! This is all my fault!" she cried.

"Shh, Ana, no. This isn't your fault at all. Why would you say that?" I pulled her against my chest.

"I helped Hydra! I helped them get that piece! That's how Anderson recognized me! Now that SHIELD has it they'll hurt innocent people to get it back!"

"Ana, we won't let that happen." I told her, stroking her hair and trying to calm her. But honestly I was so scared myself. I'd never seen her like this before. I knew there were probably many reasons for her to be scared right now. The concussion, lack of sleep, and the memories of her old life coming back to haunt her. I knew I should have made her stay home.

"Deep breaths, Ana." I told her, worried she'd start hyperventilating if she kept crying like this. I noticed Steve and Thor coming around the corner. Thor was baffled by the sight in front of him. As I said before, Ana is not usually ever this emotional at work. I motioned for Steve to take Thor somewhere else. Which he did quickly and discreetly. Now I had to focus on Ana.

"Hey, doll, what do you say we get out of here?" I offered. "But what if we're needed here?" She protested.

"They'll be fine. Nat's got this one covered." I said, taking off my jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders, "Now, I think I know exactly where we should go."

She gave me a questioning look, and I took her hand and led her out of the facility.

…

3rd person POV

Thor silently followed Steve back into the observation room, however, neither of them were showing much interest in what was happening on the other side of the glass anymore. Thor cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. "Is Anastasia alright? I've noticed she seems upset."

"Well, no, she's not exactly alright." Steve said.

"What is troubling her?" Thor asked.

Steve sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, Bucky and I recently found out about.. something. We didn't really know what to make of it at first. Anyway… we found out she's been… cutting herself." He stuttered.

Thor gazed through the window of the interrogation room, although he wasn't focused on anything. He just stared straight ahead, leaving Steve in a long, awkward silence. Steve interrupted it with his input, "I wasn't really sure what to make of it. I just couldn't believe she'd do such a thing to herself."

Thor gave the slightest nod, "It is not unheard of, even on Asgard, to do such a thing." He looked at Steve now, his expression solemn.

"I know several warriors who have done so, a few have taken their own lives. Seeing battle… killing… it changes people. I do not doubt Anastasia has seen a lot of war and chaos in her time. Still, it is so unfortunate to hear she is harming herself."

"Bucky and I are trying to help her. I'm just not sure we know what we're doing."

"But you are trying," Thor said with a small smile, "and that is all that matters."

Steve was surprised at Thor's reaction. He'd been very calm and rational about the concept as a whole. This was probably why he was meant to be king of Asgard someday.

"Tony recommended therapy for her, but Bucky doesn't think it's a good idea."

"I noticed Bucky has become very protective of Anastasia lately."

"Yes, he has. I know he only wants the best for her."

"If there is anything I can do," Thor said, "Please tell me."

"Thank you, Thor." Steve said, "You are a very good friend, to me and Ana."

Thor nodded, "Sometimes friends are all we have."