Ana was running through the streets of New York. Her heart pounded in rhythm with her feet as she raced through alleyways and traffic and swarms of people. She knew she was being chased but she didn't dare look over her shoulder. She had to get away. She stopped at a surprisingly empty intersection, she doubled over panting, trying to regain her energy before she took off again. That's when she heard a scream. When she heard it she froze. It rang off the buildings in a piercing echo from every direction, and she didn't know where it was coming from. She only knew one thing for sure; it was Bucky's voice.

She took off towards the direction she thought the voice was coming from. In a flash she was at the base of Stark tower. Bucky's scream was coming from the roof landing mat. Tony was flying overhead and swooped down. He picked up Ana and carried her to the top of the tower. She dropped onto the gravel and Bucky was there, his hands tied and his face beaten and bruised, screaming for help. Ana ran forward to help him, but an invisible force stopped her, knocking her down. She tried helplessly to reach for him. She screamed until her lungs gave out but there was no sound. She watched in horror as Hydra dragged Bucky away from her while she was still screaming. The commander's voice rang in her ears.

'One day the soldier will return' That's what he'd always said to her, and there it was, coming true right before eyes until she woke up with a jolt.

Ana sat up in bed, breathing heavy, she looked out at the city, realizing it was just another dream.

This was her fourth nightmare that week. They started after her talk with Steve. She had brushed off the first one, thinking it was a rare occurrence. The next few weeks had proved her wrong, however, her dreams only intensified and escalated.

She had no plans to tell Bucky what was going on. She didn't want him to get overprotective and worried about her, but she also hardly slept anymore and she knew he was going to pick up on the fact that something was wrong.

Ana reached for her phone from the bedside table. 5:12am, it said. She really didn't want to get up; her chest felt heavy and her muscles were tired and sore, but the alternative of sleep wasn't appealing to her either.

She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking out her window at the lights of the city, twinkling under the fading night. She thought about the blades still hidden in her bathroom cupboard, but resolved herself to try and make it another week, so she'd be a month clean. She pushed herself out of bed, threw on her workout clothes, and went downstairs to get some much needed coffee.

After her workout, she went her apartment for a shower, she noticed in the mirror she had bags under her eyes from the week of little sleep. All attempts at concealing them failed and all she could do was pray that no one noticed. As if that wasn't bad enough, she got a notification on her phone reminding her of a dress fitting for Logan and Jenna's wedding.

"I give up." Ana sighed to herself, slumping against her counter. She wrestled her hair into a braid and went about her day. She worked on some paperwork and mission reports that were long overdue. She even finished some of Bucky's. Everyone else cringed at the mere mention of mission reports but Ana found them calming. Writing always came easy to her so she could quickly and efficiently go through several whenever she was in the mood. After a few hours and a lot of typing, Ana's hands were starting to cramp. She sighed and closed her laptop. She would have to take the train into Westchester in an hour to make it in time for her dress fitting. Ana dreaded seeing her mother again so much that she was already shaking, but she had committed to being in the wedding and there was no way out now. But she could already hear the remarks about the news and Bucky and everything else. Ana rubbed her temples to soothe her preemptive headache. She decided she better at least get another cup of coffee before heading to the train station. She was going to need it.

...

Ana shuffled out of the elevator onto the main floor, tossing her bag on the floor and trudging directly to the coffee maker, responding to greetings with false enthusiasm and fake smiles. 'Just smile, nod, and pour coffee.' she thought. She just had to pretend a little longer, make everyone think she was fine until she could get to her room and...

"A little late for coffee, isn't it?" Bucky asked leaning against the counter.

"I need it." Ana said, probably more to herself than him.

"No you don't. Look at you, you're already shaking. How many cups have you had already?"

"One… " Ana said, taking a sip to hide her lie "plus six."

Suddenly the cup was snatched from her hands, and her precious coffee was dumped down the drain.

"What the actual f-"

"I'm cutting you off. You look terrible and the last thing you need right now is caffeine."

Ana gave him a look somewhere between a glare and a pout. She loathed when he doted on her so heavily, and loathed even more that he saw right through her stone-cold mask.

"Don't look at me like that. You look like hell, Ana. What's going on?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." Ana snapped.

"Are you sure? I want you to tell me if you're not."

"I promise it's fine. I'm fine. I'm just mad about spending the afternoon with my mother, that's all."

Bucky lowered his voice, and got very serious, "No cutting, right?"

Ana shook her head.

"How long has it been?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

"Almost a month now… or something like that." Ana mumbled.

Bucky smiled. "Ana, that's amazing."

Ana bit the inside of her cheek, "it's nothing to be proud of." She should feel proud of it, but she wouldn't allow herself that.

"Yes it is." Bucky countered, "And when the month is up, we should celebrate."

"It's not something to celebrate." she said, looking down.

Bucky tilted her chin to look up at him, "It is, and we will. I am immensely proud of you for making it this far. I love you; now go get some sleep." He kissed her, and that was the end of the conversation.

Ana went to bed again that night, and again the haunting torture of her dreams took her back through the worst chapters of her life. Scene by scene until they played out an alarming, imaginative end that had her waking up in screams. She cried out, and her panic tripled when she realized she wasn't alone.

"Ana? Ana?!" a voice was saying. She thrashed against him, gasping for air, coughing and shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Ana, it's me. It's me. You're safe."

She reached out for the voice with both hands. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her back to reality. She pressed her head into Bucky's neck as he held her.

"Shh… Shh… It's okay, doll. I'm here. You're okay."

Ana wanted to tell him that no, she was definitely not okay, she was scared out of her mind only seconds ago, and she didn't know by he was in her room or how he got there and she was still scared and angry because she just couldn't stop crying. But no words came, and she couldn't talk let alone think so she settled in her boyfriend's arms and shielding herself from the outside world.

"It was so real! Everything was so real." she sobbed.

"I know." Bucky said, stroking her hair, "It feels that way. But it's not real. It's just a bad dream."

Ana huffed. Maybe it sounded like just a bad dream, but after a month of repeated nightmares and sleepless nights, it didn't seem like just a regular bad dream. This was no boogieman or monster. A real person haunted her.

Ana was just beginning to calm down when her previous questions floated back to her.

"How did you get in here?" She asked.

"Jarvis woke me up and let me in." Bucky explained.

"Damn traitor." Ana mumbled.

"It's part of his protocol. He does it for everyone, don't take it personal."

"What time is it?"

"It's only 4:30," Bucky told her, "Do you wanna get some more sleep?"

Ana shook her head. The crying and hiccupping had finally subsided, but she still didn't want to try to face the evils of sleep again.

"You want me to make you some tea?" Bucky offered.

"No... stay." Ana whispered, tangling her hands in his hair. There was something about touch, and especially touching him, that always calmed her down. He helped her feel real when she was drifting away, and he made her whole when she was falling apart.

Bucky kissed her forehead, content with any excuse to cuddle. He rubbed her back while she played with the ends of his hair. He felt her heartbeat fall back into rhythm with his as they laid together speaking in soft, hushed voices.

"Do you ever think about cutting it?" She asked.

"Sometimes. I'm just not sure how I feel about my head being touched." he admitted.

"I'm touching it right now." Ana pointed out.

"You're not a stranger, and you're not holding scissors."

"Fair point." Ana agreed.

"Do you want me to cut it?" Bucky asked.

"I like it long." Ana said, "But I've never really seen you with short hair either. And maybe- I don't know? I'm just curious I guess, and it grows back. Not like shaving your eyebrows or anything."

Bucky chuckled, "I'll cut my hair if you shave your eyebrows then."

"No way in hell, Barnes." Ana retorted. She laid with him for a little while longer, enjoying the silence between them.

She nearly fell asleep again listening to the sound of his heartbeat, but she forced herself awake again before sitting up with a yawn.

"I think I'm going to train early this morning." she said, throwing off her covers and slipping out of bed. She kissed Bucky before she finished getting ready quickly and making a cup of coffee before she went down to the gym.

Ana was jabbing at a punching bag when Natasha came running in. Ana knew instantly something was wrong. Natasha didn't rush anywhere unless it was an emergency.

"We have to go." She said, throwing Ana's uniform at her.

"Where?" Ana asked, trailing out of the gym after her. She was straining to keep up.

"SHIELD. Everyone else is already on their way." Natasha said.

"Why? What's going on?" Ana was getting really nervous now about the mystery and urgency of all this.

Natasha kept her gaze forward as she stormed down the hall.

"Our prisoners have escaped."

"What?!" Ana gasped, "That's not possible! Anderson maybe, but Friedrich was in solitary."

"I'm as surprised as you are." Natasha said as she dragged Ana onto the elevator.

"When did it happen?" Ana couldn't believe it. There was no time to think or to plan a mission. They were just storming into this blindly.

Natasha checked her watch. "About thirty minutes ago. Maria called it in about twenty. We're hoping we can get them before they get too far."

Ana began pulling her gear on while the elevator moved down to the garage. When the got there, Natasha tossed her a helmet.

Hi all! Thanks for reading, hope you are all ready for Infinity War (I am not), but regardless this story will go on as I have already planned it so no worries. I'm sorry this chapter is a bit rough. I wrote it twice but I just still didn't like the way it came out :/ I feel like the next chapter will be much better though. Which brings me to another point. I am looking for a beta for this story because I am having a really hard time with editing. If anyone is interested please PM me :)

Thanks again and have a great day!