Disclaimer: I own nothing Captain America-related, not even Bucky Barnes…though I might consider asking Marvel to loan them and the rest of the Avengers to me for a while. Until then, only original characters and plots/ideas are mine.

AN: Sorry for posting this late. I also apologize for this being a shorter chapter than usual, but it ends at what I think is a good point. Please enjoy, and don't forget to review. Thanks.

Chapter 15: Uneasiness:

It had taken several days for the two of them to calm down from their talk about Phil Coulson, and whether or not Anna would be removed from the house. In fact, the only reason they did calm down was because of two things: first, the large tent that Natasha promised arrived; and second, an order for Anna to pack her things didn't.

"I guess that means everything is fine," Anna cheerfully said, after the delivery guys had left the parts for the tent in the hallway. "I'll call Natasha and ask if some SHIELD workers can come put it up."

Bucky, however, asked her not to, before stating that he intended to do it himself.

Surprised, Anna agreed, but made it clear to him that if it became too complicated for him, or if he lost his temper with it, she would call Natasha. Bucky agreed, and immediately began hauling everything out to the backyard.

From there, he spent hours working hard to erect the tent. Dressed in a sweatshirt, sweat pants, and with leather gloves on (all of which slightly inhibited his efforts), the whole task took up an entire morning. When he finished, he was tired and hot, but in good spirits at having succeeded in completing his project.

He was even happier with the tent itself.

Since he had worked with some of the best technology that HYDRA could offer, he recognized the feel of the material the tent was made out of, and knew how it functioned. This particular type of tent would shield him from any type of view: heat-tracking, X-ray, and even a peeping Tom using binoculars or a scope. It was also incredibly strong, waterproof, and made to let in fresh air, keeping the space comfortable for those inside. Since he would be working out in it, ventilation was crucial.

(It wasn't until it was finished that Bucky began suspecting that HYDRA had stolen the formula for this type of material from SHIELD. He then had to wonder how Coulson had managed to hold on to this particular tent when all others were probably in HYDRA-controlled storage buildings.)

After the tent was set up and a few pieces of equipment moved in, Bucky immediately began to make use of it. It was a relief to get out of the house, but it also had an unexpected perk: Anna's company.

"Don't think that I'm not going to use it, too," she told him one day, as he moved a set of weights into the tent. "I like the idea of sitting out there in it to read."

The two of them quickly came to an agreement on how to arrange things inside the tent. Anna had a comfortable camping chair and footrest in a far corner, where she could spend her time reading and listening to music on her headphones, while Bucky did some exercising or martial arts routines.

He, of course, had no problem with this. It gave them more time to spend together, and if there was one thing he had grown to like, it was spending time with Anna.

At first, they had a sort of silent wall between them while they did their own thing, but it wasn't long before that barrier came down, and the two of them started to chat.

Bucky found himself opening up a little, telling Anna about memories from his time growing up in Brooklyn, namely his childhood adventures with Steve. Anna laughed, smiled or grew sad whenever he talked about his past, but she never interrupted him, and was always there to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, hand or arm whenever the memories got to him. There were times where he longed for her to hug him again, but he was too shy to ask –the last thing he wanted was to make Anna uncomfortable.

Oddly enough, he never worried about someone listening in on their conversations. They would simply hear him talking about his childhood, remembering where he'd grown up, what his mother was like, and the games he'd play with his best friend.

For a while, they made do with the tent as their one and only outdoor excursion, and didn't complain about it. They had their fresh air and a way of getting out of the house, so neither he nor Anna had any complaints.

It would figure that, just as they were settling into a quiet routine, they received a call from Director Coulson.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Director Coulson commented, leading forward on his desk.

The call was a surprise, and at first, Anna had been nervous that he was calling with bad news in regards to her and Bucky. However, from the calm and almost friendly expression on his face, any anger he had towards her was gone.

"No, sir," Anna replied, trying to hide her trembling hands behind her back. Bucky stood beside her, at full attention, though his right hand was gently pressed against her left one, offering her his silent support. "We were just about to have an early lunch."

Phil actually seemed happy to have caught them at a good moment. "I've been thinking about what we last spoke of, in regards to your trips outside," he stated. "And, I have to admit, you were right. It isn't a good idea to keep you both locked inside the house, so I'm approving a sort of 'testing-the-waters' situation."

Anna perked up, as did Bucky. "You're giving us permission to go out?" she asked eagerly.

Coulson nodded. "You may go out twice a week, as a start. Keep a large gap between days when you go out. If anything happens, like you're recognized or a situation gets out of control, call me immediately and get back to the house ASAP, so that I can get things in order. Understood?"

Both she and Bucky nodded their agreement. They would have done those things anyway, but it was important to show him that they took his orders seriously.

"Good," Phil stated, leaning back in his chair. "So, as of this moment, you've permission to head out. Just be careful and keep your head down: HYDRA is still out there, and they're a lot stronger than we are right now."

A chilling thought, but one that Anna could understand. "We'll be careful, sir," she promised.

Bucky gave a slight cough. "Sir, if I might ask: are there any weapons within the house that I could use to defend us in an emergency?"

The look Coulson gave him told him to not be an idiot. "I don't think allowing you a weapon would be a good idea," Phil said in a tone that would allow no argument. "If something were to happen, I have full faith that you would be able to handle it."

Anna rather doubted that such a terrible situation would occur, but she had faith in Bucky's ability to keep her safe.

"You may begin your excursions outside immediately. Keep me posted." With that, Phil logged off, leaving Bucky and Anna to themselves.

The two of them exchanged looks. "Shall we go out for lunch?" Anna suggested.

Bucky's grin was enough of an answer.

"We really need to be more careful about how much we order when we eat out," Anna joked as they walked back home.

Bucky blushed. "It's not my fault! I was hungry!"

"If I counted right, you ate one huge turkey club sandwich, the fries that came with it, the coleslaw, three glasses of soda, two glasses of water, and a slice of cherry pie with whipped cream for dessert," she said, counting on her fingers. "Did I miss anything?"

He looked a bit longingly at the leftover box in her hand. "You wouldn't let me try the French Dip sandwich you got," he said mournfully.

She snorted. "No way are you getting your hands on this! If you're hungry by the time we get home, you can go ahead and snack on anything but this."

Sighing, he agreed, but kept an eye on the box. There was always a chance that she might forget about it later…

Suddenly, about a block from the house, Bucky felt eyes watching them.

There was no mistake –someone was watching. He had been with HYDRA long enough to deduce the different looks a man might feel on him. He knew how to tell between a curious look; a long hard look of someone wanting to make sure of what they were seeing; and someone purposely focused on keeping eyes on a target. This was definitely the latter.

Looking around the street would attract the person's attention even more, so Bucky stayed calm and tried to stay relaxed, even as his senses became heightened.

Beside him, Anna gave him a strange look as she sensed something was off about him. "What's wrong?" she quietly asked.

he tried to appear calm. "Someone's watching us," he muttered, barely moving his lips.

The expression on her face was somewhere between alarmed and skeptical. "Are you sure? If you are, it might be some of SHIELD's agents keeping tabs on us."

That could be it, but Bucky didn't think so. The skills that HYDRA had hammered into his brain over the decades screamed that the ones watching them were not SHIELD.

"We should get back," he firmly told her. "But let's take a longer, different route." He paused to look right into her eyes. "And whatever you do, don't look around and try to find them. We don't want to spook our watchers."

Anna looked ready to protest, but instead kept quiet and let him lead her down a side street they'd never taken before. She continued to say nothing as they went down one road, crossed to another, and finally ended up at an intersection three blocks or so from the house.

"Are we good?" she whispered as they waited for the signal to cross the street.

He nodded ever-so-slightly. "Yes, I don't feel them watching anymore. Let's get back home."

He didn't feel completely sure about their safety until the front door closed behind them.

It had taken over a week to locate their target, and when they finally had, it was a bittersweet find.

Everyone knew why: Although Daniel Whitehall was pleased that the Soldier had been found, he was very unhappy that the remnants of SHIELD was very much involved.

"We can only speculate at what they have been doing with him," Lennox reported to his superior. "However, given where he is living, and who his live-in companion is, the most likely scenario is that he is attempting to once again become a normal man through rehabilitation, provided by SHIELD."

Stone cleared his throat. "Sir, if he progresses too far in recovering his previous personality, it would ruin everything HYDRA has done to him. We might never get him back."

Whitehall did not look happy. "Then their efforts cannot be allowed to succeed," he said, his voice hard as steel. "The Soldier is too valuable to HYDRA and its efforts."

The room went quiet as Whitehall appeared to be thinking carefully about the situation. Each and every man and woman held their breath, wondering if they would be recalled to a HYDRA base and punished for failing their leaders.

When Whitehall let out a small sigh through his nose, the others froze, eyes fixated on the communications screen. "If the Winter Soldier has begun reverting back to who he was before WWII, then you will need to persuade him to surrender himself to you. As Bucky Barnes, he would be more than willing to do so, provided you give him a reason to do so."

He looked over at Lennox. "I'll let you work out the details. Remember, if this fails, you will be the one most severely punished."

Lennox swallowed hard as Whitehall closed the channel. Alone with his team, he turned and began to give orders, all the while holding back his fear of failure, and what would happen to him if he did.

Five days ago, when Bucky had said that he felt eyes on them Anna had wanted to tell him he was being silly –after all, hadn't Phil and Natasha admitted that there were SHIELD agents keeping tabs on them? Personally, she thought that Bucky was being slightly paranoid, but she decided it was best not to argue with him, and just go with it.

Their journey home was a more rambling one, and Anna had been forced to try and keep pace with Bucky's larger strides as they moved up and down various streets.

It wasn't until they got home that she got a look at his facial expression –the worry, anger, and fear that seeped through the stoic mask he struggled to keep up unnerved her, just a bit. She knew that he had been afraid of HYDRA finding him, but she had assumed that Coulson had put a protection detail on them for when they went out.

Sighing, Anna put on a tea kettle on the stove. 'Maybe that's what spooked Bucky. He does have bad memories of encountering and fighting against SHIELD.'

That had to be it. Bucky probably still had mixed feelings about SHIELD, and it was starting to get to him, the poor guy.

She didn't judge him, of course. Rather, she stood by him, and did everything possible to reassure him that things were fine, and that he really had nothing to worry about because Phil's people would keep them as safe as possible.

"That's not good enough," Bucky told her whenever the matter came up. "SHIELD is spread thin, and anyone they have protecting you won't be enough against a full HYDRA assault team."

His words hadn't really hit her until she'd had some time to think about it. As a former HYDRA member, Bucky would know many of the tactics that could be used against them –and if he was starting to get nervous about HYDRA, then there might be something to worry about.

Once or twice, Anna had begun to consider talking to Phil Coulson about Bucky's fears, but wasn't sure if she should or not. After all, Phil had assured her that things were okay, so they had to be safe, right?

But HYDRA was still out there, and they were strong, where SHIELD wasn't. Could she really be sure that Coulson and his people could keep her safe?

'You're doing that paranoid thing, like Bucky,' she lectured herself. 'Stop it.'

Well, she wasn't going to let it get to her. As risky as it was taking Bucky out into the world, it was as bad, if not worse, keeping him cooped up inside. It was either risk getting caught by HYDRA, or having Bucky go off the deep end from boredom. Neither choice was appealing.

So, rather than let HYDRA and fear take control of her life, Anna decided to go with what she considered the less problematic option.

Hopefully, it wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.

AN: Review?