Anne was sleeping deeply.
Then something stirred.
She woke up.
A figure was standing beside her bed.
She pulled out a knife from under her pillow and jumped backwards.
"Who are you?!"
The figure did not answer.
Should she dare? She did.
Anne turned on the light and the knife fell from her hand.
"Bucky..."
It was him. Bucky. He was just standing there, an impassible look on his face. He was exactly as she remembered him.
The girl took one step forward and then one back again. Suddenly, a threatening thought grew in her mind.
Why was he so still? She needed proof it was really him.
Anne picked up the knife once more and with all the strength she had in her body, through it at him.
The robot didn't even bother to stop the hurling knife coming right at him, because as soon as it hit him it bounced right back off again.
Anne felt the rush of disappointment run through her.
Then the Robot turned to her and a small grin appeared on his face. Bucky's eyes were empty as he turned and went straight towards Anne.
But this time, she wouldn't take risks. She knew what she was up against.
She screamed immediately and her many footsteps suddenly come from down the hallway.
They had heard her.
"Nice call. You always were so smart, Anne. Maybe that's one of the reasons I decided to stay with you. But I'm afraid that won't be enough this time."
She felt shivers all down her spine. That was Bucky's voice. His exact voice.
Just then, Anne heard the footsteps stop. What had happened?
"You didn't think I would come alone did you?"
Her face turned pale. She couldn't beat him, she knew this. She needed a distraction.
"Poor little Anne. Always alone in her pain. For a while you had me, didn't you? But I'm afraid I used you ill."
All of a sudden, Steve burst in the room, another Bucky robot following him.
"On the head Anne!" He yelled before the other Bucky bot attacked him again.
"There's a button on the head!"
"Well that's convenient" she thought.
Now she just had to prepare herself to shut him off.
"Oh Anne... I'm so sorry for what happened."
No. Not here. Not now. How could they possibly know what had happened?
"I made you believe I loved you, but it was just a lie, all of it."
Anger. Anger was rising up.
"I think you've said enough Robot. Prepare to be terminated."
Now she didn't want to just shut it off. She wanted to rip it to pieces.
"And that night..." The small grin appeared once more as he kept moving towards her, but he never finished that sentence. Anne had ran against the wall, bounced off of it and fallen on his shoulders.
Steve rejoiced to see that she was going to turn it off. But that's not what she did. Not only did she shut it down, but she forced her knife into the neck and ripped the damned thing's head off.
Anne jumped down and the inanimate body fell to the floor.
Steve had already shut his off.
"Wow. I thought they were made of Adamantium..."
"Everything has it's weak spot Steve."
And she was graver than he had ever seen her.
Even the others put up quite a fight. Each of them had had their own robot. Only Anne and Steve seemed to have the same one.
"Now their trying to use our pasts against us with people we cared about."
The young girl was curled up on the sofa in her father's sweatshirt, sitting next to Steve. He had a thousand questions to ask her, but he didn't know how to start. Fortunately, he didn't have to.
"Why was your robot the same as Steve's?" Asked Bruce.
Surprise filled her expression.
"I thought Steve told you. He was the one who trained me."
"Yes, I know that. I just didn't think you would care so much for them to actually use his image against you."
Her face turned pale.
"I cared about him. He helped me."
No one asked any more about it, satisfied with the reply. But Steve didn't feel the same way. He just had to wait to bring it up at the right time again.
"Now, that makes more sense."
Tony was examining the robots.
"These robots are made of a strong metal, but not Adamantium. These must have just been some kind of warning bots."
"So that's why she could rip the head off of it." Said Steve, lost in thought.
"Yeah, I think your girlfriend has serious anger issues, Cap."
Steve just shook his head. Anne wasn't his girlfriend.